Lawyer

What does a lawyer do?

A lawyer gives legal advice and acts for clients or an employer.

In a law firm, you advise clients, draft documents and may argue cases in court. In a company, you work as in-house counsel and advise the business.

In-house lawyers sit in the legal department, often reporting to a general counsel. Law firm lawyers sit in a practice group, such as corporate, disputes or banking, under a partner or senior associate.

You work with business teams, finance, risk and compliance, human resources and senior management. You also deal with external counsel, regulators, opposing parties and the courts.

What the work involves

• Read and draft contracts, and mark up the other side's changes.
• Research statutes and case law on LawNet, then write advice that a non-lawyer can act on.
• Meet business teams to learn the facts before giving a view on legal risk.
• Coordinate the legal side of a deal, including external counsel, approvals and closing steps.
• Help with disputes or internal investigations, such as interviewing staff and gathering documents.
• Update templates, guidelines and the legal knowledge repository so others can reuse them.

Pay in Singapore

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Skills a lawyer needs

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Lawyer job description

We are looking for a lawyer to advise the business on commercial, corporate and regulatory matters in Singapore.

You will draft and negotiate contracts, support deals, manage disputes with external counsel and work closely with risk and compliance teams. You should write clearly, research carefully and give practical advice under time pressure.

Responsibilities

• Advise business units on legal issues after checking the facts with them.
• Draft, review and negotiate commercial contracts and standard templates.
• Coordinate the legal work on deals, including due diligence, documents and closing.
• Research Singapore law and apply it to the matter to identify legal risks.
• Instruct and manage external counsel, and track legal costs against budget.
• Support the handling of disputes, complaints and internal investigations.
• Work with compliance teams to review internal policies, governance papers and communications to regulators.
• Track changes in law and regulation that affect the organisation, and brief stakeholders.
• Maintain precedents, guidelines and records in the document management system.
• Help bring in legal technology, and check its output before anyone relies on it.

Requirements

• A law degree recognised for admission in Singapore, and admission to the Singapore Bar for roles that need it.
• Typically 0 to 3 years of experience for junior roles, and often 3 to 8 years for in-house counsel roles.
• Experience drafting and negotiating commercial contracts and working on corporate or commercial matters.
• Comfort with LawNet, document management systems and e-discovery tools.
• Clear business writing and the ability to explain legal risk to non-lawyers.
• Knowledge of a sector such as financial services, technology or real estate is often preferred.

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Lawyer career path

Lawyers move from junior counsel to senior counsel and then to head of legal.

In a law firm, the steps are associate, senior associate and partner.

1. Junior legal counsel or associate

   Entry

   You draft documents, research law and support a senior lawyer on matters and deals.

2. Legal counsel

   Mid · SkillsFuture title

   You advise business units, handle contracts and deals on your own, and work with external counsel.

3. Senior legal counsel

   Senior · SkillsFuture title

   You lead complex matters, draft at an advanced level and guide disputes and crisis responses.

4. General counsel or head of legal

   Head

   You lead the legal function, set legal strategy and advise senior management and the board.

Steps marked "SkillsFuture title" follow the career pathway in the SkillsFuture Skills Framework. The others are titles commonly used in Singapore.

Related jobs and their pay

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Lawyer interview questions

We wrote these questions from the skills this job needs. They are not an official question bank.

1. How do you research a point of Singapore law on LawNet?

   What a good answer covers

   • State the legal question clearly before you search
   • Start with the relevant statute, then find leading cases
   • Check the court level and whether a later case changed the position
   • Note the sources so another lawyer can verify them
   • Summarise the answer and the level of uncertainty

2. Which clauses do you check first in a services agreement from a supplier?

   What a good answer covers

   • Scope, deliverables and service levels
   • Liability cap, exclusions and indemnities
   • Termination rights and what happens to data and work on exit
   • Intellectual property ownership
   • Governing law and dispute resolution

3. The business wants to cap your company's liability under a contract. How do you draft the clause?

   What a good answer covers

   • Tie the cap to a clear amount, such as fees paid
   • List what the cap does not cover, such as fraud
   • Cover direct and indirect loss separately
   • Check that the clause is likely to be reasonable under Singapore law
   • Make sure the cap works for both sides

4. What is the difference between a share sale and an asset sale from a buyer's side?

   What a good answer covers

   • A share sale transfers the company with its history and liabilities
   • An asset sale lets the buyer choose which assets and liabilities to take
   • Contracts and licences may need consent to transfer in an asset sale
   • Employees and tax treatment differ
   • Warranties and indemnities matter more in a share sale

5. What does legal due diligence cover before your company acquires a business?

   What a good answer covers

   • Corporate records and ownership of shares
   • Material contracts and change-of-control clauses
   • Litigation, disputes and regulatory issues
   • Employment, intellectual property and licences
   • A report that ranks findings by risk and suggests fixes

6. How would you explain a legal risk to a sales director in an email?

   What a good answer covers

   • Put the answer and the recommendation first
   • Use everyday words and avoid Latin and long citations
   • Give two or three options with the risk of each
   • State what you need from them and by when
   • Keep the detail in an attachment

7. How are document management and e-discovery used when a dispute begins?

   What a good answer covers

   • Issue a notice to keep relevant documents
   • Collect from email, chat and shared drives with a clear record
   • Filter by date range, custodians and keywords
   • Review for relevance and privilege
   • Keep an audit trail of who handled what

8. How would you use a legal AI tool to review contracts safely?

   What a good answer covers

   • Check the tool's rules on confidentiality and where data is stored
   • Do not upload client or company data without approval
   • Treat the output as a first draft and verify every citation
   • Review the contract yourself before advice goes out
   • Record how the tool was used for the matter

1. A sales head wants to sign a customer contract tonight. You find an uncapped indemnity in it. What do you do?

   What a good answer covers

   • Explain the exposure in terms of money and likelihood
   • Offer a fix, such as a cap or a narrower indemnity
   • Suggest who can approve the risk if the customer will not move
   • Contact the customer's counsel quickly to propose wording
   • Keep a written record of the advice and the decision

2. An employee complains about a senior manager. You are asked to help with the internal investigation. How do you start?

   What a good answer covers

   • Confirm the scope, who leads and who must stay out
   • Plan interviews, and keep notes accurate and confidential
   • Preserve emails and other records
   • Keep the process fair to both sides
   • Report findings and options without pre-judging outcomes

3. External counsel's quote for a dispute is far above budget. What do you do?

   What a good answer covers

   • Ask for a scope, assumptions and phased fee breakdown
   • Agree what work stays in-house
   • Compare with one other firm if time allows
   • Set a cap or review points for costs
   • Tell the business what the likely cost range is and why

1. Tell us about a time you had to say no to a business team.

   What a good answer covers

   • Describe the request and the risk simply
   • Show how you offered an alternative
   • Explain how you kept the relationship
   • State the result

2. Describe a deal or matter where you handled many stakeholders under a tight deadline.

   What a good answer covers

   • Name your role and what you owned
   • Show how you set priorities and tracked open points
   • Explain how you kept people informed
   • Share what you would change next time

1. The marketing team wants to load customer data into an overseas email tool. Which Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) points do you check?

   What a good answer covers

   • Whether customers consented to this use of their data
   • Whether the purpose matches what customers were told
   • Rules on transferring personal data outside Singapore
   • A contract with the vendor on protecting the data
   • Whether the company's data protection officer should be involved

2. How do you keep track of regulatory requirements if your company is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)?

   What a good answer covers

   • Follow MAS notices, guidelines and consultation papers for your sector
   • Work with the compliance team on what changes are needed
   • Update policies and templates when rules change
   • Brief business teams on what they must do differently
   • Keep a record of how the company met each requirement

Common questions about a lawyer job

Sources