LexisNexis Singapore , the Asian head office of leading global legal publisher and knowledge provider LexisNexis Group, has made a S$67,500 donation to establish an undergraduate scholarship and prize at the Singapore Management University (SMU) School of Law. This is the first time LexisNexis is contributing towards the education and development of legal practitioners in Singapore through the set up of a scholarship and prize. The donation was made in June 2007, which also makes LexisNexis the first corporation to contribute to the SMU School of Law.

The LexisNexis Scholarship in Law is available to outstanding local undergraduates from any year of study pursuing a Bachelor of Laws full-time at SMU. Valued at S$12,000, one bond-free Scholarship is awarded annually and is tenable for one year. Besides achieving outstanding academic records, the scholar should also demonstrate an active pursuit of co-curricular activities and community service.

In addition to financial assistance, successful scholars will also receive a host of support from the organisation to add value to the scholarship and their development as legal practitioners. The scholar will have access to mentors from the legal management team and legal editorial team in LexisNexis, who can advise the scholar on career development and training needs in the legal practice, as well as providing an international perspective on corporate law. The LexisNexis' suite of information solutions, from the legal database to libraries comprising law books, journals and magazines will be made available to the scholar. In addition, the scholar will also be offered internship opportunities in LexisNexis to gain exposure to the wider, practical aspects of legal practice, such as research, content management and publishing.

Thai Zhern Leing (戴甄伶), a first-year undergraduate pursuing a double degree in Law and Business Management at SMU, is the first recipient of the LexisNexis Scholarship in Law. An avid basketball player, Thai is also an accomplished ballet dancer and pianist. The 20-year old is active in community service. She volunteers at Community Legal Clinics run by the Law Society of Singapore to offer pro-bono legal counselling and advice. She is also involved in the organising of a buskers' festival in June to raise funds for a local charitable foundation, and in July, will be embarking on an overseas community involvement project in Yunnan, China.

LexisNexis has also contributed towards the establishment of The LexisNexis Prize For The Student With The Best Year Two Law Research Paper. The award, worth $1,500, is given annually to recognise a second-year Law undergraduate with the best research paper, which may be published on the LexisNexis website.

Besides the scholarship and award, LexisNexis is working closely with SMU School of Law to further extend their support for the School's students through internship opportunities and also involvement in its corporate community service and volunteer projects.

Said Professor Michael Furmston, Dean, School of Law, SMU, “We are grateful for the dedicated support and willingness of LexisNexis to sponsor and connect closely with our undergraduates. The exposure to an important legal knowledge expert and publisher like LexisNexis will offer alternative insights and broaden their perspectives of the legal practice. As our students graduate and build their legal careers, such a relationship can only grow and strengthen into a mutually beneficial partnership.”

Added Mr Dean Cockery, General Manager, LexisNexis Singapore, “Our contribution to the SMU School of Law marks our commitment to nurture future legal practitioners in Singapore. We also hope to identify those who fulfill the tough standards in the legal practice and at the same time, meet the fast-changing needs of the industry through this scholarship and award.”

LexisNexis' contribution to the SMU School of Law adds to the generous support the School has received from the legal profession. In less than a year, legal companies, lawyers, private donors and even SMU faculty, have contributed over $467,000 in total, to offer scholarships, awards, and solicitors training programmes or legal internships to its undergraduates.

Said Professor Howard Hunter, President, SMU, “We are very encouraged to know senior practitioners of large law firms endorse our approach to legal training and come forward with generous support. We seek to groom a new breed of legal professionals with practice-relevant legal knowledge, sensitivity to socio-economic dimensions of the business world and international exposure through business study missions and internships. The wide and diverse range of scholarships, awards and training programmes offered by the legal profession assure our students and provide them with some form of financial alleviation during their professional studies at SMU. Our pioneer batch of undergraduates have barely completed their first year, but these awards also provide added recognition and motivation, and we hope will spur them and new generations of law students at SMU to greater heights of academic excellence.”

A list of major donations to the SMU School of Law for scholarships and awards is in the annex.

About LexisNexis

LexisNexis® is a leading global provider of information and services solutions, including its flagship Web-based Lexis® and Nexis® research services, to a wide range of professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting and academic markets. A member of Reed Elsevier [NYSE: ENL; NYSE: RUK], LexisNexis serves customers in 100 countries with 13,000 employees worldwide.  

About Singapore Management University School of Law

Launched on 5 January 2007, the Singapore Management University (SMU) School of Law proudly welcomed its first batch of 117 students in August 2007. SMU's undergraduate law programme aims to mold students into excellent holistic lawyers who will contribute significantly to society. The objective is to produce law graduates who have contextualized legal expertise and the ability to think across disciplines and geographical borders. SMU's seminar-style learning pedagogy will be put to good effect to nurture students who are confident, articulate and analytically agile.

The Law School offers a 4-year full-time LLB programme, as well as a 5-year double-degree programme which combines law with SMU's existing non-law programmes in Accountancy, Business, Economics, Information Systems and Social Sciences. The rigorous legal curriculum comprises a menu of core law courses whic h include courses in corporate and commercial law, as well as other useful law electives. The courses are specially chosen to trains students to have a contextualized and practice-oriented understanding of the workings of the business world. Students also undergo a mandatory 10-week internship with a law firm or government legal agency to acquaint themselves with the practical workings of the legal system and the realities of law practice in the private and public sectors, as well as expose them to the nature of regulatory work.

The SMU law curriculum was formulated by a five-member Curriculum Working Group comprising legal academics and practitioners. The collegial team of Law School faculty holds postgraduate degrees from ren owned universities worldwide such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and London. The faculty has amassed an impressive publication record. Articles have appeared in top law journals such as Cambridge Law Journal, Modern Law Review, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies and Journal of Contract Law. The Law School will continue to recruit talent from all over the world to build a strong team of excellent researchers and teachers.

The faculty is also very actively involved in the university, the global legal fraternity and in Singapore society. Faculty members sit on the Editorial Boards of prominent publications worldwide, on the Board of Directors in various associations and organisations, on lists of arbitrators, Committees (such in the areas of Law Reform, Legal Education and Studies, Continuing Education, Promotion of Singapore Law, etc.), as consultants, advisers, registrars and panelists in tribunals as well as other academic and professional appointments.