K. Shanmugam was born in March 1959.
He was educated at Raffles Institution from 1972 - 1977. He then read law at the National University of Singapore, where he graduated with a First Class Honours in 1984. He was admitted to the Singapore Bar as an Advocate & Solicitor in 1985.
Mr Shanmugam went into private practice and became Head of Litigation & Dispute Resolution at Allen & Gledhill LLP. He handled many high-profile and complex cases, and was often referred to as one of the “twin titans” of the litigation bar in Singapore. In 1998, he was appointed a Senior Counsel of the Supreme Court of Singapore at the age of 38, one of the youngest to be so appointed.
While in private practice, he was also involved in looking into the structure of the legal profession in Singapore. He was appointed Co-Chairman of the Working Group (Legal Services Sector) of the Economic Sub-Committee on Services in November 2001. He was also a member of the Review Committee on Supply of Lawyers in Singapore, which submitted its Report in July 2006.
Mr Shanmugam became an MP in September 1988 when he was elected a Member of Parliament for Sembawang GRC (Group Representation Constituency). Since then, he has been successively reelected as an MP for Sembawang GRC in 1991, 1997, 2001 and 2006.
In Sembawang GRC, he is an adviser to several grassroots and community organizations in Chong Pang. He is also an elected member of the Sembawang Town Council and an advisor to the North West Community Development Council.
Mr Shanmugam is also President of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA). Prior to accepting public office, Mr Shanmugam served in various committees and Boards including the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health; Advisory Board of the NUS Faculty of Law; the Raffles Institution Board of Governors; the Media Development Authority; and Sembawang Corporation Industries Ltd.
On 1 May 2008, Mr Shanmugam was appointed Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs.
Mr Shanmugam is married to a clinical psychologist, and has two children, a son and a daughter.