Council Updates |
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| 15 December 2000 |
Council 2001 - Election of Office Bearers
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The following persons were unanimously voted into office: The Executive Committee will comprise Mr Palakrishnan SC, Mrs Arfat Selvam, Mr Goh Phai Cheng SC, Mr N Sreenivasan, Mr Sivakumar Murugaiyan, Mr Philip Jeyaretnam, Mr Ronnie Quek and Mr Thio Shen Yi. |
Solicitors' Accounts, Accountant's Reports,
Professional Conduct and Publicity
The Council approved consequential amendments to the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules, the Legal Profession (Publicity) Rules, the Legal Profession (Solicitors' Accounts) Rules and the Legal Profession (Accountant's Reports) Rules having regard to the creation of Law Corporations and Joint Law Ventures. The Council also proposed amendments to Rule 9 of the Legal Profession (Publicity) Rules 1998 and the inclusion in the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules of (draft) rules on touting and third party referrals and on solicitors' duties to third parties.
Approval of Applications for Law Corporations Mrs Arfat Selvam, Vice-President, reported that, to date, the applications of 3 law corporations have been approved, whilst a fourth application was pending. The guidelines pertaining to Law Corporations will be refined and expanded as applications increase. |
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Foreign Lawyers - Qualifying Examination
The Attorney General will set up a Board of Examiners, which will have one representative from the Law Society.
Real Estate Agents Scheme
The Council had a lively discussion as to whether solicitors could do real estate work and whether a solicitor could then act for a party in the conveyance and whether safeguards should be implemented to prevent abuse of the Scheme.
Assigned Counsel
Ms Chu Sooi Yoon, Director, Practice Standards, reported that the Criminal Practice Committee will write to the Registrar of the Supreme Court to request him to send a circular to all the lawyers on his current list of assigned counsel to ascertain whether they wish to remain on the list and to give the Chairman of the Criminal Practice Committee a copy of the updated list. It is proposed that the Chairman write to the lawyers and invite them to a dialogue to brief them on the role and responsibilities of an assigned counsel. Mr N Sreenivasan also informed the Council that the Continuing Legal Education Committee was planning a workshop to train lawyers in Criminal Advocacy skills.
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Wills Registry Mr Thio Shen Yi, Council Member, referred to the draft proposal and forms from the Insolvency, Public Trustee and Official Assignees' Office (IPTO) for the setting up of a 'Wills Registry.' He explained that at a meeting with the IPTO, Law Society representatives had highlighted the importance of confidentiality and suggested that only lawyers be allowed to do the search after the death of the testator or testatrix. He asked Council Members for their input on IPTO's proposal, as well as the names of probate lawyers who would be able to offer feedback on the matter. |
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