There are more than 4,300 local lawyers practising in Singapore today, after the number of lawyers here grew by about a thousand over the last six years, said Law Society president Lok Vi Ming.

Speaking at the opening of the legal year on Friday, Mr Lok said the legal profession is growing steadily in terms of numbers, reaching the 4,000 mark for the first time in 2012.

The Senior Counsel revealed, however, that while the number of lawyers here swelled by more than a thousand since 2007, the number of foreign lawyers are growing faster than their local counterparts.

"The spectacular growth in the number of foreign lawyers practising in Singapore emphasises the need for our foreign brethren to lock hands with local lawyers, not in competition, but in cooperation and integration," said Mr Lok, who is also currently a partner at Singapore's oldest law firm, Rodyk & Davidson.

He added, however, that foreign lawyers here only had a "modest" level of involvement in pro bono work, and said they could do more in that area.

Mr Lok took over as Law Society president this month, after being elected unopposed by the group's 22-member governing council last November.