Home > ST Forum > Online Story
July 12, 2009 Sunday
I REFER to last Wednesday's report, 'Lawyers barred from hiring debt collectors'.
It is rather shocking that some lawyers engaged the services of debt collectors to redeem unpaid bills. The immediate action by the Law Society to ban such a practice is commendable.
First, we must understand the general profile of debt collectors and how they collect debts. Unlike private investigation agencies that are licensed by the Security Industry Regulatory Department under the purview of the police, debt collectors are not licensed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
There is a public misperception that debt collectors are licensed by the CID, though the police will investigate complaints against debt collectors if they (including their runners) run foul of the law.
It is common for debt collectors to engage in physical or psychological harassment. Banging on doors is a form of physical harassment, while getting tough-looking men to wait at the reception area of a debtor's office is a form of psychological harassment.
It is naive to believe that bad debts can be collected without harassment, and I am sure lawyers who engage debt collectors are aware of such tactics.
It is also indisputable that hiring such debt collectors by advocates and solicitors, who themselves are statutory officers of the Supreme Court, would surely belittle 'the dignity of the legal profession and adversely affect the standing and perception of the legal profession in the eyes of the public'.
Lawyers who engage debt collectors must be mindful that should the debt collectors commit any criminal offence in the course of their work, they themselves could be in trouble for abetting the debt collectors.
Lawyers must always uphold the standing of the legal profession to maintain public confidence in it. All advocates and solicitors should always be mindful of Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong's advocacy in his foreword in the book, Ethics And Professional Responsibility, in which he wrote: 'A life devoted to the law in maintaining the public peace and tranquillity, resolving social and commercial disputes, and protecting and defending civil rights is not only ennobling, it is also uplifting, satisfying and fulfilling. Many lawyers aspire to live such a life.'
Sadly for the legal profession, it is not uncommon these days to read newspaper reports of lawyers sanctioned for various breaches of professional conduct.
Ho Kam Seng
July 12, 2009 Sunday
I REFER to last Wednesday's report, 'Lawyers barred from hiring debt collectors'.
It is rather shocking that some lawyers engaged the services of debt collectors to redeem unpaid bills. The immediate action by the Law Society to ban such a practice is commendable.
First, we must understand the general profile of debt collectors and how they collect debts. Unlike private investigation agencies that are licensed by the Security Industry Regulatory Department under the purview of the police, debt collectors are not licensed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
There is a public misperception that debt collectors are licensed by the CID, though the police will investigate complaints against debt collectors if they (including their runners) run foul of the law.
It is common for debt collectors to engage in physical or psychological harassment. Banging on doors is a form of physical harassment, while getting tough-looking men to wait at the reception area of a debtor's office is a form of psychological harassment.
It is naive to believe that bad debts can be collected without harassment, and I am sure lawyers who engage debt collectors are aware of such tactics.
It is also indisputable that hiring such debt collectors by advocates and solicitors, who themselves are statutory officers of the Supreme Court, would surely belittle 'the dignity of the legal profession and adversely affect the standing and perception of the legal profession in the eyes of the public'.
Lawyers who engage debt collectors must be mindful that should the debt collectors commit any criminal offence in the course of their work, they themselves could be in trouble for abetting the debt collectors.
Lawyers must always uphold the standing of the legal profession to maintain public confidence in it. All advocates and solicitors should always be mindful of Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong's advocacy in his foreword in the book, Ethics And Professional Responsibility, in which he wrote: 'A life devoted to the law in maintaining the public peace and tranquillity, resolving social and commercial disputes, and protecting and defending civil rights is not only ennobling, it is also uplifting, satisfying and fulfilling. Many lawyers aspire to live such a life.'
Sadly for the legal profession, it is not uncommon these days to read newspaper reports of lawyers sanctioned for various breaches of professional conduct.
Ho Kam Seng
