Council Updates

Publicity Rules

Mr Sivakumar Murugaiyan, Council Representative for the Ethics Committee, informed the Council that e-ethics share the same principles as non-Internet related ethical issues and should not be liberalised in isolation. He reported that the American Bar Association (ABA) will be re-examining their position on e-ethics issues in April 2000.

The Ethics Committee proposed that the Law Society should wait until the ABA finalises its rules on e-ethics issues, before making any decisions, since the ABA is reconsidering some of its earlier opinions in these areas.

The Council decided that in view of the proliferation of issues which are arising and being considered by the Ethics Committee, the Ethics Committee should issue a statement to Members in relation to the e-ethics issues.

Law-on-Line

The Council discussed whether the Law Society should adopt a conservative or liberal approach to firms/individuals who venture into the provision of services over the Internet.

If too conservative an approach is adopted, Singapore may lag behind other jurisdictions. Websites in the USA, UK and Australia now sell forms and are hyperlinked to law firms.

LawNet will also be providing Forms and Precedents, which can be downloaded by subscribers soon.

The Council decided that this issue should also be addressed by the Ethics Committee in its Statement to Members on e-ethical issues.

Practitioner’s Incomes and Lifestyles

Ms Tracey Yeo and Ms Adeline Ang gave a presentation of the survey findings to the Council.

The Council decided that an article on the survey results will be published in The Singapore Law Gazette in May 2000. The draft article will be circulated to the Council before its publication in The Singapore Law Gazette.

Increasing Income and Reducing Expenditure

The Council suggested a reassessment of personnel and administrative expenses of the Secretariat.

The CLAS Committee will look into the possibility of organising more charity fund-raising events.

Mr N Sreenivasan, Chairperson and Council Representative of the Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Committee, raised the point that CLE seminar and workshop fees can be varied, depending on the popularity of the topic or speaker.

Professional Negligence Claims

The Council decided that members’ awareness of potential negligence claims should be raised in articles in The Singapore Law Gazette. Summaries of existing and past claims should be featured in The Singapore Law Gazette in the future. The Publications Committee will liaise with Alexander Forbes to make the necessary arrangements.

A Meeting of Professionals

Mr Goh Phai Cheng SC, Vice-President, reported that the Inter-Professional Presidents Group (IPPG) had discussed the topic of Multi-Disciplinary Partnerships (MDPs). Also in the pipeline, a website for the sharing of information on the respective professions’ Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes. A joint paper to request the Singapore Productivity and Standards Board (PSB) grant for the CPD programmes by the respective professional bodies will be prepared. The IPPG is also reviewing and revising its approach to the World Trade Organisation Treaty.

Links with the Hong Kong Law Society

An informal tea was organised for our visitors from the Hong Kong Law Society at the Writers Bar of the Raffles Hotel at 4.30pm on Sunday, 9 April 2000.

Malaysian Bar Council’s Dinner and Dance

Mr Palakrishnan, President, informed the Council that the following matters were discussed at the Malaysian Bar Council’s Dinner and Dance in Kuala Lumpur on 18 March 2000: elections to the Bar Council, IT and legal practice and legal portals. There were also discussions on the renaming of the Bench and Bar Games.