17 March 2026, by Sin Chen Yeong, Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya
If you are looking for a magic bullet and quick tips for growing a firm, I don’t have one here. What I have is my story and how I achieved it.
I was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in March 2015 and then joined Philip Chua & Co., with offices in Muar and Melaka. Back then, I believe that if I honed my legal skills, I would be the best, cases would flow in and financial freedom would follow.
With that belief, I founded CHENYEONG in Melaka in January 2017. In the early days, I took on all sorts of cases: conveyancing, litigation, employment, commercial, intellectual property and arbitration, to name a few. I was also actively involved in Yayasan Bantuan Guaman Kebangsaan and the Melaka Legal Aid Centre, plus a few hearings of a prominent Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (“SUHAKAM”) inquest. All of this was done with one purpose, to gain as much experience as possible, so I could become a better lawyer faster, which would translate into more cases and more money.
The first three years felt sunny and fun, full of new things to explore and experience. Even so, there was always a nagging feeling that bothered me from time to time, especially when I saw friends who ventured out on their own almost at the same time as me, having grown their law firms by leaps and bounds. I wondered how they managed it. I also began to feel stuck, juggling between firm administration, accounting, handling cases, networking and maintaining a client base.
Reality hit when the COVID pandemic happened in March 2020 and lockdown followed. During that period, everything stopped; no work meant no money, but expenses still had to be paid. At the lowest point, I remember being left with only RM37 in my bank account.
It was during that period that I realised something had to change. What I was doing simply wasn’t sustainable. Why was it not sustainable? In a one-man show, you do everything, from managing the firm’s administration and accounts, to handling cases, networking and maintaining a client base. The moment you stop, everything stops too. Basically, a jack of all trades but master of none.
Besides, the legal market was also becoming tougher. Some firms compete to offer the lowest fees, while certain companies restrict sole proprietorships from taking on specific work. Finding your footing and earning a decent living was no longer easy.
No matter how well you manage your time, there is always a limit to what you can focus on at any one time. If I choose to focus on networking, there will be things that I have to sacrifice to achieve my networking goals. These realisations dawned upon me during the pandemic period. After that, I decided to stop focusing on ME and start thinking about WE.
In 2022, I began my journey of collaboration and cooperation. That year, I tried working together with a few people, but nothing truly materialised until I met my current co-founder, Lim Soo Yee. A consensus was reached during one meeting: we were to work together throughout 2023 without merging and, by the last quarter of that year, assess and decide whether to merge as one firm, and merge we did. Sin & Lim was founded on 1 Jan 2024.
It was then that I realised another aspect of working together is having shared core values and common goals. With my journey, values and goals in mind, I began to search for people to work with. It was through this method that my firm has grown to a team of eight (at the time of writing), and currently, we are still actively seeking the right people to grow with us.
As a firm grows in size, it gains an economy of scale where every new partner brings not only expertise but also their resources and networks. By pooling resources and networks, we can reduce the workload and increase efficiency by delegating work to the right people. Besides, every time a new partner joins, the network of potential clients grows exponentially. Bigger networks mean more files, which means more income for the firm, creating a positive loop that uplifts everyone.
So, do you want to bring your small firm to another level? If yes, start by asking yourself what you truly want. If you are to grow bigger, your mindset must change, and you must be willing to see things differently. All the best and happy hunting.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author in his personal capacity and do not represent or reflect the views, policies or official position of the Malaysian Bar.