HOMEGROWN Rajah & Tann has been ranked among the world's top 30 law firms in international arbitration.

In the latest Global Arbitration Review (GAR), it is the only Singapore practice to make a list of 100 - and is ranked 25th in a league of 30, based on cases handled, size of claims and other quantitative data.

The value of arbitration claims in which the firm was involved totalled US$6.4 billion, based on hearings between September 2006 and September 2008. In this period, Rajah & Tann completed 21 merits hearings.

It is reported to have 41 pending cases as counsel, 12 pending as arbitrator and eight pending in which it will serve as chair.

'This is a great honour for the firm, which has led the way here in setting up a specialist international arbitration practice,' said Rajah & Tann senior partner and senior counsel Sundaresh Menon. 'It is also recognition of Singapore as one of the main centres of international arbitration.'

Rajah & Tann is one of only two Asian arbitration firms on GAR's latest list - the other is from South Korea. GAR noted that Rajah & Tann's senior members all trained at Jones Day, a much larger international arbitration group.

Rajah & Tann 'has close and deepening ties with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC)', GAR said. 'It is also a busy practice. If GAR 30 graded firms solely on the basis of recent merits hearings, Rajah & Tann would be in the top 10.'

Rajah & Tann set up its standalone arbitration practice in 2007, after Mr Menon joined the firm and was followed by the arbitration team at Jones Day. Mr Menon was formerly head of Asian litigation and arbitration at Jones Day. Apart from him, Rajah & Tann's arbitration team comprises 11 other lawyers, six of whom are partners.

The latest addition to the team is Ganesh Chandru, who was counsel and assistant registrar at SIAC from 2002-2007. Mr Chandru was credited with spearheading SIAC's initiatives in India, where he helped to set up an arbitration centre in New Delhi.

This is the second year that Rajah & Tann has made the GAR 100 list - but the first time it has made the league of 30. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Clifford Chance and Shearman & Sterling took the top three spots in this year's GAR 30 ranking, with portfolios in the range of US$25-98 billion. The GAR 100 list does not rank firms in any particular order.

GAR is a London-based journal on public and private arbitration. It started the 100 list as an annual guide to the arbitration capability of law firms worldwide. Firms are assessed on scope of work, reputation, experience and number of cases.

This article was first published in The Business Times.