SINGAPORE - The lawyer of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew has been ordered to pay a penalty of $13,000 by a disciplinary tribunal. This is after she was found guilty of misconduct unbefitting of an advocate and solicitor in relation to several e-mails she sent to his children about his wills. Ms Kwa Kim Li was referred to the...
The fine comes after Ms Kwa Kim Li was found guilty of misconduct unbefitting of an advocate and solicitor.SINGAPORE - The lawyer of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew has been ordered to pay a penalty of $13,000 by a disciplinary tribunal. This is after she was found guilty of misconduct unbefitting of an advocate and solicitor in relation to several e-mails she sent to his children about his wills.
In a report released on May 5, the tribunal said Ms Kwa was guilty of misconduct under section 83 of the Legal Profession Act. Amid the quarrel, Dr Lee and Mr Lee Hsien Yang, who are the executors of their father’s estate, brought four complaints against Ms Kwa in 2019. The Law Society referred one of the complaints to the disciplinary tribunal, but was asked by the court to refer another one of the complaints after Mr Lee appealed against the society’s decision.
Ms Kwa had said in the body of the e-mail that she thought it was best that the e-mail was addressed to all three of them as they are the only beneficiaries of the estate. Before the tribunal hearing, Ms Kwa had admitted in an agreed statement of facts that she did not obtain the executors’ consent to send the e-mail to PM Lee, and that this amounted to misconduct unbefitting of a solicitor.
“In a situation such as the present case, it is imperative that solicitors act strictly within their professional boundaries and exercise care and caution,” said the tribunal.Dr Lee and Mr Lee Hsien Yang had also taken issue with Ms Kwa for not disclosing discussions she had with their father in November and December 2013.
On Dec 13, 2013, the late Mr Lee sent another e-mail to Ms Kwa to ask for a further amendment to his will to bequeath a silk and a wool carpet to Mr Lee Hsien Yang. The tribunal noted that it was clear that the subject matter being addressed in that e-mail was about the late Mr Lee’s seventh and final will and the background to that will. Given this, Ms Kwa should have disclosed her discussions with the late Mr Lee from November to December 2013.
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