2 March, 2017
International law firm RHTLaw Taylor Wessing has awarded the NUS Criminal Justice Club (“CJC”) the RHTLaw Taylor Wessing Subhas Anandan Pro Bono Award (“the Award”) at the NUS Law Pro Bono Awards Ceremony 2017. The Firm’s Founder-Senior Consultant Mr Rajan Menon presented the Award to the CJC at the event today.
The RHTLaw Taylor Wessing Subhas Anandan Pro Bono Award seeks to encourage NUS Law students to embrace the pro bono spirit and to be torchbearers of pro bono work. It provides S$25,000 over a period of five years from 2016 to 2020, to fund worthy pro bono projects initiated by NUS Law students.
Into its second year, the Award was launched in 2016 as a tribute to the late Mr Subhas Anandan, Singapore’s most outstanding criminal lawyer and a Senior Partner at RHTLaw Taylor Wessing. Mr Anandan was a champion of pro bono work and a tireless supporter of a fair and just society, whose legacy the Firm is continuing to honour and celebrate.
Set up to raise awareness about criminal law in Singapore and to inspire positive change within the criminal law scene, the CJC best reflects Mr Anandan’s own advocacy for the criminal justice system in Singapore. The Club has helped provide recourse for individuals who believe they have been wrongfully convicted of crimes and led efforts in exploring potential improvements to the military justice system. To this end, the Firm is pleased to present the CJC the RHTLaw Taylor Wessing Subhas Anandan Pro Bono Award for the second year running.
Commenting on the value of pro bono work in a speech delivered to NUS Law students at the event, Mr Rajan Menon, Founder-Senior Consultant of RHTLaw Taylor Wessing said, “For lawyers getting into or just starting out in their careers, pro bono work provides exposure to a broad spectrum of legal work that they might otherwise not encounter in their practice. Many of our volunteer lawyers have also found their lives enriched by a sense of fulfilment in knowing their pro bono work has directly touched someone’s life in a meaningful and lasting way.”
“We look forward to seeing many more good works done by you in the coming years. As students on the cusp of entering the legal profession, we hope that you will continue to embody and strengthen the pro bono spirit even as you progress through your careers,” Mr Menon added.
The importance of pro bono work, and of giving back to the community, has always been part of the RHTLaw Taylor Wessing culture. The RHT Rajan Menon Foundation, set up to enable the Firm and the RHT Group of Companies to contribute to charitable endeavours, has raised more than S$400,000 over the past two years for beneficiaries including The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the National Galley Singapore and the Red Cross Home for the Disabled.
Volunteer lawyers from the Firm are regularly involved in pro bono work as well, participating in legal clinics and the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS) and assisting the Action Community for Entrepreneurship Ltd as the legal service provider to the start-up community at JTC LaunchPad@one-north.
