On the 9th May, a hugely talented selection of 20 of the most well-respected, dynamic and innovative general counsel in Singapore assembled at Ashurst’s beautiful Marina Bay offices to discuss all things crisis management – perhaps THE key topic for high level corporate counsel – with The Legal 500 and three of Ashurst’s most distinguished names in Singapore: partners Rob Palmer and Michael Weatherley and counsel Sylvia Tee.  

With the Singapore Strait and its vast array of cargo ships providing a breataking backdrop, the conversation got underway with Sylvia Tee of Ashurst chairing the discussion and asking those in attendance: ‘how prepared are you really?’ 

Key themes from the discussion included the challenges of assembling a crisis management team (elementary on paper but potentially problematic in real-world situations), the need to rehearse for predictable crises such as dawn raids and any sector-specific scenarios unique to your company and the perennial difficulty of actually diagnosing a crisis in order to take the necessary steps. 

Throughout, robust discussion came both from the GCs in the room and Ashurst’s representatives, with many commenting in the following drinks and networking session on the strength and practicality of the discussion.