I APPLAUD incoming Law Minister K. Shanmugam's vision to propel the legal profession to world levels, citing New York and London as benchmarks. With these high standards, Singapore must cultivate the right conditions and understand the ingredients that will create a world-class legal profession.

I would like to share two characteristics of New York legal practice.

First, allow talent to be attracted. New York, unlike Singapore, does not restrict membership to its Bar by nationality. Potentially, any candidate in the world with the requisite tertiary qualifications can sit for the New York State Bar Examinations and be admitted, if successful. This tears down traditional barriers and pulls in talent from all over. The human diversity that constitutes a leading Wall Street law firm can easily be verified on the Internet. However, liberalising the Singapore legal profession in this way is less popular as it can change the demographics of law practitioners permanently.

Second, attract and motivate talent. New York attracts the best legal talent because it understands human motivation. New York law firms are global trendsetters in attorney compensation. It is a frank solution of paying lawyers what they reasonably think they are worth, in the context of their abilities and economic environment. Make no mistake - a lawyer's life in New York can be harsh, but the silver lining is the perceived fairness of the reward system.

In an ideal world, lawyers' salaries in Singapore should edge closer to those of their counterparts in New York, but in practice this is not possible as legal fees in Singapore are generally lower. However, a good yardstick to determine lawyers' remuneration could be the earnings ratio between partners and associates in a law firm. Should the market-leading Singapore law firms progress towards a more New York-like earnings ratio without any market intervention, young lawyers in Singapore, those who can make a difference in 10 to 15 years, can experience a fair increase in compensation. This could also help stem the flow of lawyers leaving the profession.

On the other hand, retaining a low-cost structure is attractive in that, in the event of further market liberalisation, it gives incumbent law firms the flexibility to mount protracted price wars against international firms unable to price themselves at similar levels. Policymakers will have to decide which path will pave the way to a deeper talent pool in the legal profession.