CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 29 , Chavalit Uttasart, recent winner of the Partner of the Year – Thailand award, talks to Corporate Vision about SCL LawGroup, its internal culture and vision for the future. Partnered for Success SCL Law Group (formerly known as Chavalit Law Group) provides a full range of legal services to serve the needs of clients. It has structured its group of law firms in such a way that general legal work, such as corporate, securities, banking and finance, corporate recovery services, expatriate services, labour, mergers and acquisitions, property, litigation and arbitration, are handled by Siam City Law Offices (SCL); and intellectual property, information technology and telecommunications work is handled by Chavalit & Associates (CA). Chavalit & Partners Limited (C&P) is based in Hua Hin, Thailand. It specialises in providing services to expatriate individuals and companies living, and operating in the south of Thailand. The office focuses upon work for land and property buyers and developers, as well as providing corporate and tax advice. Outside of Thailand, the firm has offices in Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR. Its clients are both domestic companies and multinational corporations. We have worked with law firms in many jurisdictions for cross-border transactions. SCL is also a member of Asean Plus Group, a network of independent law firms with a strong presence in the ASEAN countries. “Our vision is to be the full- service commercial law firm of choice for local, regional, national and international clients, continuously striving to deliver world-class legal services,” explains Chavalit Uttasart.“We constantly try to better ourselves and our lawyers to ensure they are well informed of the legal development in our surrounding region as well and the political changes to ensure we better serve our client.” Chavalit continues to explain the firm’s approach when undertaking a new project to ensure that clients always receive the best outcome possible. “One of the paramount aspects when dealing with clients is understanding what the client really wants – we design our service to be in sync with the client’s needs, not just immediate needs but also what is best for the client in the long run. A detailed research of the client’s background and trade philosophy gives us an understanding of the client which in turn helps us to render the best legal service for the client. “Partners in charge of the projects will normally form a team of lawyers with different expertise do the work, such as corporate, tax, labour and real estate, etc. We emphasise good communication amongst the team.” The firm differentiates itself from the competition due to the fact it has an excellent understanding of the region, with its partners have more than 40 years of experience in the location. “Several of our partners have been instrumental in the development of various frameworks within Thailand,” states Chavalit. “The Group comprises of 12 partners. Our corporation system promotes/allows partners to work with partners which means we can make use the expertise of each partners to support services/projects that we do for clients. “Our philosophy has always been in continuous education and keeping abreast with new developments within the region, be it new legal development or changes in political climate or new policy implementations. By the group as a whole being up- to-date with these changes, we keep our clients well informed. This builds confidence and an excellent working relationship between us and the client.” The firm has a strong team culture and staff are constantly encouraged to enhance their skills, not only within the legal field, but also within management and the business development of the group as a whole. “Being involved creates a sense of responsibility and a motivation to group with the group as well as their own careers,” says Chavalit. “When hiring new staff, besides academic achievement, we also look at how a candidate can evolve within the Group as a whole. We believe there are many opportunities within the group that candidates can be involved and engaged, which will not only benefit the candidate but mutually benefit the group in moving forward and expanding.” The Asian region is developing quite rapidly in various areas, including the implementation of Asean Economic Community (AEC), the ever-evolving digital technology and the legal pathway to protection for individual and commerce and many other issues that will most certainly keep the group very busy. “The key thing is to always keep the group well informed, to take the challenge and get involved with the developing tides,” finishes Chavalit. “We are confident that staying up to date with changes and move along with the changes is the best way to keep our clients and further develop our every growing group.” K Company: SCL Law Group Name: Chavalit Uttasart Email:
[email protected] Web Address: www.siamcitylaw.com Address: Rajanakarn Building, 20th Floor, 3 South Sathorn Road, Yannawa, Sathorn, Bangkok 10120, Thailand Telephone: +66 (0) 2 6766667-8 1702CV33