Navy stint helps lawyer to sail smoothly

Mr Daniel Ho took a leap of faith when he left his engineering job at the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) to pursue a law degree in 2012.

Today, the 36-year-old is a qualified lawyer in the dispute resolution department of Wong & Leow LLC, which has a joint law venture with Baker McKenzie.

His undergraduate degree was in mechanical engineering from the National University of Singapore.

It was during his stint in the RSN, which he joined after graduating in 2007, that his interest in law was piqued.

As a naval engineering officer, Mr Ho was in charge of managing the annual overhaul programmes for naval vessels.

This required a lot of coordination and negotiations with the various contractors, he recalled.

He also had to deal with issues of delay and defects that arose throughout the overhaul programmes.

"I enjoyed this area of work and did a bit of research," he said.

"I found out that this is what dispute resolution lawyers do on a daily basis."

Mr Ho subsequently studied law at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, which offered a compressed graduate law programme of two years.

It helped that he knew what he was interested in practising.

"In order to leverage my previous training and work experience, I was looking to practise as a dispute resolution lawyer specialising either in infrastructure, oil and gas or maritime law," he said.

He currently handles infrastructure, building and construction matters at his firm.

Mr Ho said those who made a mid-career switch would have diverse industry experiences and perspectives that can contribute to the legal profession.

"Ultimately, the law does not operate in a vacuum and is meant to regulate, support and solve problems for people and businesses."