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A LAWYER caught recording the proceedings in court was asked by a judge yesterday to hand over the digital voice recorder.
District Judge Francis Tseng was hearing a professional negligence suit taken out by a divorcee, against some lawyers for mishandling the sale of his marital property, when he was told about the breach of court rules.
Private audio recordings of court proceedings are prohibited, and neither lawyers nor reporters are exempt.
Proceedings of civil cases in the High Court are recorded by an external service provider and transcripts are available – only to parties involved in the dispute – upon request.
The culprit was a young woman lawyer, understood to be helping out in her first trial and apparently unaware of the rule against recordings.
She was on the defence team representing four of the five lawyers being sued by Mr Simon Suppiah Sunmugam, a 62-year- old private eye.
The judge reprimanded her senior, the lead defence lawyer, who apologised profusely. He said he was unaware of what his junior colleague was openly doing.
A spokesman for the Subordinate Courts confirmed last night that the lawyer involved had apologised in open court and that the judge had dealt with the matter.
The four lawyers being sued are Ms Amarjit Kour, Mr Gregory Tang Wee Thiang, Ms Belinda Ang Choo Poh and Mr Peter Cuthbert Low, formerly of the firm Peter Low Tang & Belinda Ang, who had acted for Mr Suppiah’s ex-wife in their divorce.
A fifth lawyer being sued is Mr Andrew John Hanam, formerly the sole proprietor of Hanam & Company, who was Mr Suppiah’s counsel for the divorce.
Mr Suppiah is alleging that the five had mistakenly paid property agency ERA $28,000 as commission after the property was sold, even though he was the one who found the eventual buyer.
But the defendants have said they do not owe him a duty of care. Ms Kour took the stand yesterday.
The cross-examination continues.
