Serious Lee Suet Fern suspended 15 months by disciplinary body ( 20 Nov 2020 )

[Kee Chew]

Lee Kuan Yew's will: Lee Suet Fern suspended 15 months by disciplinary body





Nicholas Yong
·Assistant News Editor
Fri, 20 November 2020, 11:38 am SGT

Corporate lawyer Lee Suet Fern says she supports her husband Lee Hsien Yang's move to join the Progress Singapore Party. (PHOTO: Dhany Osman / Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE — The Court of Three Judges has handed out a 15-month suspension to corporate lawyer Lee Suet Fern for her role in the handling of the late Lee Kuan Yew’s final will, after rejecting her appeal against a Disciplinary Tribunal’s (DT) verdict.

In a written judgment on Friday (20 November), the highest disciplinary body that deals with lawyers' misconduct concluded that there was no implied retainer between her and the late Lee, and that she had not acted dishonestly in her dealings with him.

Nevertheless, the Court of Three Judges said that her culpability in the matter was “at least moderately high”, as the late Lee “ended up signing a document which was in fact not that which he had indicated he wished to sign”.

It added, “The fact that the Last Will and the First Will were materially similar was fortuitous, and does not discount the fact that the potential harm could have been far more severe than the actual harm that eventuated.”

Accordingly, it suspended Suet Fern from practice for 15 months.

Suet Fern is married to Lee Kuan Yew’s youngest child Lee Hsien Yang. She is the sister-in-law of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

In a WhatsApp response to Yahoo News Singapore’s queries, Suet Fern said, “I disagree with this decision. There was no basis for this case to have even been initiated.”

She noted that the Court of Three found “no solicitor-client relationship existed” between her and the late Lee, and that the will had not been procured by “fraud or undue influence”. Furthermore, no complaint had ever been lodged by her father-in-law, nor by any of his beneficiaries or his personal lawyer for his various wills, Kwa Kim Li.

“This case arose from a complaint years later by the Attorney-General’s Chambers. Lee Hsien Loong made extensive submissions, but did not present himself as a witness and was not subject to cross-examination,” Suet Fern noted.

Background to the case

In February, Suet Fern, 61, was censured by a two-man DT for grossly improper professional conduct in her handling of the will in 2013. The DT was convened in January 2019.

It called Suet Fern a “deceitful witness, who tailored her evidence to portray herself as an innocent victim who had been maligned”. The tribunal added that the conduct of Hsien Yang, who testified as a witness, was “equally deceitful”.

Suet Fern then lodged an appeal against the verdict, with her lawyers claiming that the DT had “cherry-picked” evidence in arriving at its conclusions. They added that Suet Fern merely played an “administrative role” in facilitating her father-in-law’s wishes.

It is the latest twist in the long-running Lee saga, which first erupted in June 2017 when Hsien Yang and his sister Wei Ling, 65, went public with their dispute over the fate of the old family home at 38 Oxley Road, accusing their older brother Hsien Loong, 68, of abusing the organs of state for his own benefit.


MORE DETAILS TO COME ...

 

[Kee Chew]

Paging for Yang ...

Where are U ?

 

[Kee Chew]

/


FB

Lee Hsien Yang



The Court of Three has ordered that my wife be suspended from practice for 15 months, nowithstanding that it found that she was not acting as Lee Kuan Yew’s lawyer.
My wife is a highly regarded international corporate lawyer from Singapore with an unblemished career record. Over the years, she has received numerous international awards for her professional work.

My wife has released this statement to the media:

“I disagree with this decision. There was no basis for this case to have even been initiated.

This was a private will. Lee Kuan Yew knew what he wanted. He got what he wanted. The Court of Three did not find that he was of unsound mind or that he was not in control. He made the decision to revert to his landmark 2011 will following discussions with his lawyer Kwa Kim Li before I was tasked to find a witness. Anyone can revoke their own will while they are alive. If this will was not what Lee Kuan Yew wanted, he could easily have made another, as he had done several times before. The Court of Three found that “he [Lee Kuan Yew] was content with it [this will]”.

No complaint had ever been lodged by my father-in-law, Lee Kuan Yew, nor by any of his beneficiaries or his personal lawyer for his various wills, Kwa Kim Li. This case arose from a complaint years later by the Attorney-General’s Chambers. Lee Hsien Loong made extensive submissions, but did not present himself as a witness and was not subject to cross-examination.”

The Court of Three found “no solicitor-client relationship existed” between Lee Kuan Yew and myself. The Court found there was no dishonesty in my dealings with Lee Kuan Yew and there was no finding that the will was procured by fraud or undue influence. Probate for Lee Kuan Yew’s will had been granted by the courts in 2015. Probate had been sought on the urging of Lee Hsien Loong and Lucien Wong, before he became Attorney-General.”

 

[Kee Chew]

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Lawyer Lee Suet Fern suspended for 15 months, found guilty of misconduct in handling of Lee Kuan Yew's will

A disciplinary tribunal had found Mrs Lee Suet Fern guilty of grossly improper professional conduct in February this year.PHOTO: STAMFORD LAW

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Tham Yuen-C
Senior Political Correspondent

• PUBLISHED
  15 MIN AGO

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SINGAPORE - Senior lawyer Lee Suet Fern has been suspended for 15 months by the Court of Three Judges, over her handling of the last will of her late father-in-law Lee Kuan Yew.
In a written judgment released on Friday (Nov 20), the highest disciplinary body for the legal profession found Mrs Lee guilty of misconduct unbefitting an advocate and solicitor, for preparing and executing the will from which her husband, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, stood to gain.
A disciplinary tribunal (DT) had found Mrs Lee guilty of grossly improper professional conduct in February this year.

The Court held a virtual hearing in August, where the Law Society set out its arguments for why Mrs Lee should be disbarred over her handling of the will. Mrs Lee's lawyers called for all charges to be dropped.

The Court, comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Judge of Appeal Judith Prakash and Justice Woo Bih Li, said it did not agree with some of the tribunal's findings, in particular that there was an implied retainer between Mrs Lee and the senior Mr Lee and that they were in a solicitor-client relationship.

The Court also said Mrs Lee did not receive instructions or directions directly from the senior Mr Lee.


"Nonetheless, we agree with the DT that the Respondent is guilty of misconduct unbefitting an advocate and solicitor. Given the circumstances and nature of her misconduct, we find it appropriate to suspend the Respondent from practising as a solicitor for a period of 15 months," the court said.

The case centred on the role Mrs Lee played in the preparation and execution of the last will of the late Mr Lee that was signed on Dec 17, 2013. He died on March 23, 2015, at the age of 91.

His last will differed from his sixth and penultimate will in significant ways, and did not contain some changes he had wanted and discussed with his lawyer Kwa Kim Li four days earlier.

Among the differences was a demolition clause - relating to the demolition of his 38 Oxley Road house after his death - which had not been in the sixth or penultimate will but was in the last.


The share of the estate bequeathed to each of his three children was also different, with Dr Lee Wei Ling, Mr Lee Hsien Yang and their elder brother, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, given equal shares. In the sixth will, Dr Lee was to receive a bigger share.

Mrs Lee's role in the handling of the last will had triggered a complaint by the Attorney-General's Chambers to the Law Society in January last year (2019) about possible professional misconduct.

Deputy Attorney-General Lionel Yee had asked that the case be referred to a disciplinary tribunal and a two-man tribunal, comprising Senior Counsel Sarjit Singh Gill and lawyer Leon Yee Kee Shian, was appointed by CJ Menon.

The tribunal had said in its 206-page grounds of decision that the facts exposed an "unsavoury tale" of how she and her husband had misled the senior Mr Lee to sign a new will without the advice of his usual lawyer, Ms Kwa, who had prepared all six of his previous wills.

The senior Mr Lee was then aged 90 and in poor health.


In August, the court reserved judgment after the virtual hearing.

The Law Society, represented by lawyer Koh Swee Yen, had argued that Mrs Lee had been involved in the will's preparation and execution despite knowing her husband stood to gain from it.

It also said the lawyer of 37 years had hurried her father-in-law through the process of signing it without the advice of his usual lawyer, who had prepared his earlier wills.

Countering the society's arguments before the court, Senior Counsel Kenneth Tan and Professor Walter Woon, a former attorney-general, said Mrs Lee was acting out of affection and concern as a daughter-in-law in assisting Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and was merely performing an administrative role.

They added that there could not have been any conflict of interest because Mr Lee Kuan Yew, "a brilliant lawyer", was fully aware of what he wanted and had consented to Mrs Lee handling the will for him. They called for all charges to be dropped.


In a statement posted on Facebook by her husband Lee Hsien Yang on Friday, Mrs Lee said she disagreed with the decision.

"There was no basis for this case to have even been initiated. This was a private will," she said.

"Lee Kuan Yew knew what he wanted. He got what he wanted. The Court of Three did not find that he was of unsound mind or that he was not in control. He made the decision to revert to his landmark 2011 will following discussions with his lawyer Kwa Kim Li before I was tasked to find a witness. Anyone can revoke their own will while they are alive."

 

[tobelightlight]

This LKY really troublesome. When he dies, he created so much drama for so many people after his death. The house, the will, the children go against each others and now lawyer suspended. I have no respect for him.

 

[nayr69sg]

Ok the issue has been resolved whether or not the parties are happy about the results.

So how we shall see what LHY's true motives with the PSP.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Thank goodness they R rich n this get suspended also no biggie

 

[Kee Chew]

Hindsight wisdoms - Yang should have run in West Coast GRC . Period.

 

[Kee Chew]

Thank goodness they R rich n this get suspended also no biggie

Yang : " My wife is a highly regarded international corporate lawyer from Singapore with an unblemished career record. Over the years, she has received numerous international awards for her professional work. "

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Yang : " My wife is a highly regarded international corporate lawyer from Singapore with an unblemished career record. Over the years, she has received numerous international awards for her professional work. "

The curse of being a Lee

 

[glockman]

Yang : " My wife is a highly regarded international corporate lawyer from Singapore with an unblemished career record. Over the years, she has received numerous international awards for her professional work. "

So loving of him to endorse his wife. I fucking hate all my wives.

 

[Kee Chew]

The curse of being a Lee

Will see Yang turning to FB more from now...

 

[Kee Chew]

So loving of him to endorse his wife. I fucking hate all my wives.

me guess , Fern in current situation due to Yang in the Will . therefore only right for Yang to come out to support.

 

[nayr69sg]

Now everytime renew licence will have to answer yes to THAT question. And then need fo explain etc. Very troublesome lah.

Same goes for applying for licence in a new country or jurisdiction

 

[apogee]

Yang : " My wife is a highly regarded international corporate lawyer from Singapore with an unblemished career record. Over the years, she has received numerous international awards for her professional work. "

She is highly regarded only in Singapore and because she is the daughter in law of LKY.

 

[laksaboy]

This LKY really troublesome. When he dies, he created so much drama for so many people after his death. The house, the will, the children go against each others and now lawyer suspended. I have no respect for him.

Dictatorships and totalitarian shitholes tend to be like that. Once the strongman dies, the system left behind is flimsy and fragile. Incompetence and infighting inevitably happens.

 

[Chase]

You win the country but lose your family.
Seriously, worth it?

 

[shittypore]

Very revengeful, now he shiok!!!

 

[mojito]

This LKY really troublesome. When he dies, he created so much drama for so many people after his death. The house, the will, the children go against each others and now lawyer suspended. I have no respect for him.

LKY family also can get soo. This show Singapore is justice. Weldone PAP!

 

[parrardee]

So loving of him to endorse his wife. I fucking hate all my wives.

They hate you back too but its ok, Gin loves you to bits.