Lawyer suspended 15 months for touting

July 30, 2008
Lawyer suspended 15 months for touting
By Carolyn Quek

WHEN lawyer Rayney Wong handed a referral fee to a private
investigator posing as a property agent at a meeting four years ago,
it was apparently not the first time he had done so.

Captured on video talking to who he thought was another property
agent, Mr Wong claimed he had offered kickbacks to property agents
for referring clients to him before.

Senior Counsel Michael Hwang, who was acting for the Law Society in
its disciplinary case against Mr Wong before the Court of Three
Judges yesterday, cited this as an aggravating factor and asked for a
15-month suspension to be imposed on him.

Mr Wong's lawyer, Senior Counsel Sant Singh, argued, however, that
the Law Society did not proceed to charge him based on the point of
him having touted previously, and so it should not be considered now
in sentencing.

The three judges - Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong and Justices of
Appeal Andrew Phang and V.K. Rajah - eventually suspended Mr Wong for
15 months.

Mr Wong, a lawyer for 24 years, had earlier pleaded guilty to
offering kickbacks to Ms Jenny Lee, a private eye posing as a
property agent. She had been part of a group of investigators hired
by several lawyers to check if competing law firms were offering fees
to estate agents.

At a meeting more than four years ago, Ms Lee had asked Mr Wong to
act for her client in the purchase of a property. Mr Wong offered her
a $328 'entertainment fee' to 'thank (her) for the case'. But unknown
to him, she had videotaped their encounter.

Mr Wong is the fourth lawyer to be suspended in a series of sting
operations mounted to catch lawyers suspected of touting for
business, which is not allowed under the Legal Profession Act.

The other three were Ms Phyllis Tan, Ms Lilian Bay and Mr James Liew,
who were suspended for between nine and 15 months last December.

Justice Rajah said the touting problem had been 'troubling the
profession for a great number of years'. 'It is difficult to ferret
out and entrap lawyers who engage in such practices. So I think when
lawyers are actually caught, they should be severely punished.'

CJ Chan also suggested to Mr Hwang, who is also the Law Society
president, that future counsel acting for the Law Society in
disciplinary cases should seek the full cost from the defendant.

A higher degree of conscientiousness would then be expected of them,
Justice Rajah added.