BrazilLeading Indonesian law firm LGS joins KPMG global legal network
Global professional services firm KPMG is continuing its march on Asia’s legal scene with a new affiliate in Indonesia: Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo.
Following the launch of affiliate SF Lawyers in Hong Kong at the beginning of the year, with a further Shanghai branch slated before year’s end, the legal services arm of global consultancy KPMG has continued its expansion in Asia – signing up Indonesia’s Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo (LGS), which with a 100-plus team of lawyers is one of the largest law firms in the country.
“All of us at LGS are excited that effective as of 1st May 2019, we have entered into an alliance that links our firm to KPMG in Indonesia and the global KPMG network,” said LGS managing partner Mohamed Idwan Ganie, a decorated doctor of law who co-founded the Jakarta-based full-service firm in 1985 together with Timbul Thomas Lubis and Arief Tarunakarya Surowidjojo.
Previously, LGS was aligned with international law firm Clyde & Co, with the six year association coming to an end last month. “KPMG in Indonesia provides audit and assurance, tax and advisory services. We do not have any law firm and therefore formed an alliance with Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo,” said KPMG Indonesia managing partner Tohana Widjaja.
Widjaja continued; “This alliance will enable us to increase the services we offer to our clients and give them comprehensive advice on investment decisions and operational aspects in Indonesia. We have already had a professional relationship with LGS for years and we know that they have a strong reputation in their professionalism and integrity among the business community in Indonesia.”
With regional law affiliates in Cambodia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam already in place – and continued expansion in Australia (including this month’s strategic investment in local legal tech firm Plexus) – the addition of LGS to KPMG’s global law network marks another step in the firm’s assault on the legal sector of Asia, which is serving as an early testing ground for the Big Four’s global ambitions.
KPMG Law last year saw growth in the range of 30 percent, and has previously declared its near-term intention to ramp up its global headcount of legal professionals to 3,000, up from around 1,800 today and bringing it closer to par with its Big Four competitors. Locally, EY now remains the only member without an Indonesian law affiliate, but is reportedly in the process.
Currently, Indonesian firm Hermawan Juniarto & Partners is aligned with Deloitte Legal, joining the network toward the end of last year, while Melli Darsa & Co earlier joined PwC’s Legal Services Network – which is ranked first on the Acritas Global Alternative Legal Brand Index and is the largest of the Big Four players with 3,600 legal professionals across 98 countries worldwide.
