When Singaporean lawyers Joseph Tan and Jude Benny showed up at a lunch arranged by a mutual friend 30 years ago, they had no idea that the meal would lead to the founding of one of the most well-known maritime law firms in Asia.
The two, who were running their own struggling one-man-band outfits at the time, claim to have hit it off instantly and by the end of the lunch had begun to get the ball rolling on what started out as a small shipping and conveyancy legal practice.
Three decades later, with numerous high-profile cases and a lot of hard work under their belts, JTJB has grown to a team of 17 lawyers, and the work runs the gamut of commercial dispute resolution to family law, although shipping and admiralty law remains its core area.
Today, Tan and Benny have stepped down from the law firm that retains their names.
Despite being officially retired, they still maintain an active presence at the firm as consultants. TradeWinds is told they maintain busy caseloads despite no longer looking after the day-to-day running of the business.
To celebrate 30 years of partnership, JTJB hosted an elaborate dinner at Singapore’s historic Fullerton Hotel last Thursday, an event that attracted 400 of the top names of Singaporean and international shipping and trade.
