On the supervision of solicitors.

For some years now, I have authored the Legal Profession chapter of the Singapore Academy of Law Annual Review of Singapore Cases. This year's chapter has just been published on e-First.¹ Highlights include:

(a) a spin-off from the fatal stabbing at Boon Tat Street in 2017, which took place in broad daylight. After the deceased passed on, his wife approached a lawyer to act for the deceased's estate, and provided the lawyer with information about the deceased's assets. However, the lawyer subsequently proceeded to represent the deceased's co-habitor² in a claim against the estate. The Court of Three Judges held that the lawyer had misled the deceased's wife into disclosing confidential information and had placed himself in a position of conflict. The lawyer was suspended for 24 months;³

(b) a further chapter in the long-running saga between a matrimonial lawyer and his ex-client, who complained that the lawyer had, at a hearing, consented to various orders being made when he had not been authorised to give such consent. Both the Disciplinary Tribunal and the High Court thought that there was no need to refer the errant lawyer to the Court of Three Judges (which has the power to suspend or strike off lawyers), and that a fine would suffice. However, the Court of Appeal disagreed. Since then, the matter has been heard before the Court of Three Judges, and the lawyer has been suspended for 3 years;⁴ and

(c) unusual cases involving the admission of advocates and solicitors. One case involved an applicant to the bar whose supervising solicitor objected to his admission, but it was later found out that this supervising solicitor was not qualified to take on practice trainees at that time.⁵ Another case involved the posthumous admission of an application who passed away suddenly, just 9 days before his application was to be heard.⁶

Many thanks to Shaun Ou, Brendan Tan, the team at the Singapore Academy of Law, and my usual sounding boards (you know who you are) for the insights and assistance.