RHT Rajan Menon Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee as its Patron. The Foundation, which was set up in 2015 and named after RHTLaw Taylor Wessing’s Senior Partner Rajan Menon, serves as a vehicle through which RHTLaw Taylor Wessing and the RHT Group of Companies pursue charitable endeavours. Since its launch last year, the Foundation has held various events including a charity golf event and a movie night to raise funds for charities and conservation causes, as well as community outreach to underprivileged children.   On the appointment of Associate Professor Ho, RHT Rajan Menon Foundation’s Chairman Tan Chong Huat said, “We are truly honoured and privileged that Associate Professor Ho has agreed to take on the role of Patron of the Foundation notwithstanding the multiple volunteerism causes that he is already serving. We have immense regard for his heart for and dedication to community care and causes and look forward to his support as Patron.”   On his new appointment, Prof Ho said, “I am happy to join Chong Huat, a former student of mine at the NUS Law Faculty and one-time adjunct lecturer at the Faculty, in helping to steer the Foundation’s support of worthy causes. I see it as an extension of what I had done whilst at Minlaw - driving efforts to encourage our lawyers to do pro-bono work and to support charitable causes. I hope that the Foundation will play a leading role to get more law firms and lawyers to step up in their pro-bono and corporate social responsibility efforts.”   Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee retired as Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs in May 2011 after a political career that spanned 20 years from 1991 to 2011. Prior to joining politics full-time, he was a law don for 14 years at the National University of Singapore (NUS) where he taught Law of Contracts and Commercial Transactions and held the positions of Sub-Dean and Vice-Dean. He has a Bachelor’s degree from the Singapore University and a Master’s degree from Harvard Law School.   After his political career, Associate Professor Ho returned to the Law Faculty, NUS on a part-time basis as an Associate Professorial Fellow. He continued his links with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law, serving pro-bono as Chairman of the Home Team Volunteer Network Steering Committee and as Chairman of an Advisory Committee on Community Mediation.   Associate Professor Ho is actively involved in community service as a volunteer. He serves as Patron/Advisor to about 10 civic and voluntary welfare organisations promoting causes such as mediation, sports, Chinese opera, youth leadership and entrepreneurship, fighting children's cancer and looking after the elderly and intellectually-disabled. He was also recently appointed a Justice of the Peace.

RHTLaw Taylor Wessing is one of the 25 law firms in Asia recognised as a Firm passionate in playing their part as a good corporate citizen by Asian Legal Business (ALB) in 2016. Only three other Singaporean firms were on the list. RHTLaw Taylor Wessing was also recognised in 2015. ALB highlighted the Firm’s active role in fundraising, participating in legal aid clinics and donation drives. This announcement further reinforces the great work done by the RHT Rajan Menon Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to provide a framework, platform and channel for corporate social responsibility initiatives and activities.

RHTLaw Taylor Wessing Chairman Professor Walter Woon SC, was featured in an article in the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) News Highlights segment titled “ASEAN Needs rules-based culture”. The article highlighted Professor Woon’s speaking engagement at the David Marshall Lecture titled “Building Rules-Based ASEAN Community: Strengthening the Centre” where he shared his first-hand experience as a Singapore representative drafting the ASEAN charter. Honourable guests who attended the event included Professor Jayakumar, former Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman  of NUS Law Advisory Council and CIL; Professor Tommy Koh, Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large and CIL Chairman; and Mr George Yeo, former Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister. The full article dated 26 November 2015 can be found here on the NUS website.

RHTLaw Taylor Wessing was awarded a silver ranking for its Prosecution and Strategy expertise while Head of Intellectual Property & Technology, Jonathan Kok was ranked as a Recommended Individual in the Singapore section of the World Trademark Review 1000 (WTR 1000). WTR 1000 describes RHTLaw Taylor Wessing as a “go-to destination for brand owners seeking counsel on potentially lucrative licensing and franchising matters. Media and entertainment concerns are big fans, while food and beverage mark holders swear by its forward-looking guidance. Top designers such as Christopher Guy likewise appreciate the firm’s portfolio management abilities.” Additionally, WTR 1000 reports Jonathan Kok as a “silver-tongued negotiator who can shepherd the most complex deals to close, another go-to guy out east. He is known to maximise the impact of brands throughout Asia-Pacific." WTR 1000 is the only standalone research directory to focus exclusively on trademark practices and practitioners. It has firmly established itself as the definitive resource for those seeking legal trademark expertise. The full rankings can be viewed here.