SINGAPORE: The Law Society of Singapore on Friday (Jun 30) issued a statement advising the public not to hire lawyers from S K Kumar Law Practice.
This is because the firm does not have a valid Singapore law practice licence, nor any lawyers who hold valid certificates to practise in Singapore.
Lawyers from the firm who have previously made the news include Charles Yeo, who is at large with criminal charges against him pending. These include harassing a police officer and wounding the religious feelings of Christians on social media.
Another lawyer who practised under S K Kumar Law Practice is Mr Dhanwant Singh, who was fined S$50,000 in 2019 for depositing S$100,000 from a client into his firm’s client account instead of its conveyancing account.
The namesake of the law firm, Mr S K Kumar, was himself disbarred in 2017 for misconduct including misleading the court and wasting its time by being absent from hearings or seeking unnecessary adjournments.
Just this March, the High Court revived a negligence suit by taxi driver Cheng Hoe Soon because of the “irresponsible and lackadaisical conduct” of his lawyers from S K Kumar Law Practice.
His lawyers had repeatedly failed to attend pre-trial conferences on his behalf, and while Yeo attended two hearings, he did not have a valid practising certificate when he did so.
LawSoc on Friday advised the public not to approach or engage the firm, or anyone purporting to be from the firm, for legal matters.
The society advised those who have already hired the firm to represent them in ongoing matters to “approach other law firms expeditiously” to ensure their cases are handled “in a proper manner”.