Lee Terk Yang, a lawyer hailing from Singapore, finds himself penalized by the Court of Three Judges – the highest disciplinary body presiding over legal professionals. Yang, 41, is handed a fine of $10,000 and a three-month suspension order for an improper affair with his client. Yang was providing representation in a divorce case for the client, an air stewardess, when the incident occurred.
In January 2014, Lee Terk Yang, already married, confessed to having intimate relations with his client at a hotel for two consecutive days. The boyfriend of the air stewardess turned complainant, drawing the attention of the Law Society towards the lawyer’s inappropriate behavior. The complaint resulted in the arrangement of a disciplinary tribunal in July of the same year, where Yang pled guilty to grossly improper conduct under the Legal Profession Act.
Lee’s lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam argued that his client’s affair was a short-lived one and that he told her that he cannot represent her in February 2014, soon after the tryst ended. He also suggested that the woman was not a simple-minded person who Lee took advantage of and that she was not coerced into the affair.
Adding that Lee Terk Yang did not take any actions that affected the client’s legal interests during their relationship, Mr. Thuraisingam argued that a fine would suffice.
Counsel for the Law Society, Mr Ajaib Haridass however said that a fine would not reflect the seriousness of Lee Terk Yang‘s misconduct. It would also not protect the reputation of the legal profession and public confidence in it he argued, in pressing for a 6 – 12 months suspension.
Mr Haridass told the three judges – Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, and Judges of Appeal Judith Prakash and Tay Yong Kwang – that Lee Terk Yang “breached his fiduciary duty owed to the client when he advanced his personal interests by engaging in sexual intercourse with the client.”
He suggested that as there is an unequal balance of power in the lawyer-client relationship, it does not matter that the tryst was consensual.
Lee Terk Yang apologized for all that has happened and for the hurt he has caused. “I hope to be given the space to recover,” he said.
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