Rodyk: 150 Years
Cheong Suk-Wai
Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2011
ISBN: 9789814266888

Rodyk & Davidson, Singapore's first professional practice to lay claim to a heritage of 150 years, shares its past glories and less than glorious episodes in its colourful history. This law partnership has stood firm and tall in Raffles Place for 150 years, riding through grave personal tragedies, two world wars, internment by the Japanese and the occasional scandal or three. In that time, its lawyers drafted Malaya's first constitution and almost every pre-World War II ordinance in Singapore, facilitated the legal creation of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and advised Singapore premier Lee Kuan Yew. It was Singapore's pre-eminent law firm up to the few years following the departure of Graham Hill, its most famous son in modern times, and Tom Potts, the last of its expatriate lawyers, who left Singapore in 1976 and 1977 in the wake of the Haw Par-Slater Walker scandal. Over the next two decades, the firm lost some of its lustre. Then in November 2002 the 141-year-old firm entered into a historic merger with Helen Yeo & Partners, a firm which had stayed in a start-up mode through its short 10-year life. The merger of equals brought the combined firm into the league of five largest law firms. In eight short years, the transformation of the firm gave it a higher profile and standing not seen since the late 1970s. Rodyk's management makes its contribution to the legal profession by sharing the management concepts and philosophies that unlocked the value of a heritage name and transformed the firm. The insights in outgoing Managing Partner Helen Yeo's "Perspectives" and the last three chapters give us a glimpse of the elixir for professional life referred to by Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong in his essay "The Rise and Fall and Rise of Heritage Law Firms". The firm's Managing Partner from 2011, Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam, contributes his perspective in the last pages.

While the rebirth and rebranding of a venerable firm is of direct interest to lawyers and business readers, the firm's role in the history of Singapore and its neighbours makes this book a tantalising read for anyone who enjoys the history of business and the business of transformation.