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AGC refers possible professional misconduct case involving Lee Hsien Yang's wife to Law Soc

SINGAPORE — The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has referred a case of possible professional misconduct involving Mrs Lee Suet Fern to the Law Society.

The Attorney-General's Chambers said it became aware of a possible case of professional misconduct by Mrs Lee Suet Fern, a former managing partner at Morgan Lewis Stamford and the wife of Mr Lee Hsien Yang, and has a statutory duty to deal with misconduct by lawyers.

The Attorney-General's Chambers said it became aware of a possible case of professional misconduct by Mrs Lee Suet Fern, a former managing partner at Morgan Lewis Stamford and the wife of Mr Lee Hsien Yang, and has a statutory duty to deal with misconduct by lawyers.

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SINGAPORE — The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has referred a case of possible professional misconduct involving Mrs Lee Suet Fern to the Law Society.

In a statement on Monday (Jan 7), the AGC said it became aware of a possible case of professional misconduct by Mrs Lee — a former managing partner at Morgan Lewis Stamford and the wife of Mr Lee Hsien Yang — and has a statutory duty to deal with misconduct by lawyers.

The AGC added that the referral “does not relate to the validity of the Last Will of Mr Lee Kuan Yew”, but noted that the legal profession’s code of conduct requires that lawyers do not place themselves in a position of conflict.

“Mrs Lee appears to have prepared the Last Will of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and arranged for Mr Lee Kuan Yew to execute it, despite the fact that her husband, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, is one of the beneficiaries under the Last Will.

“Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s share increased under the Last Will,” said the AGC.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang, however, had previously said publicly that the Last Will was drafted by Ms Kwa Kim Li of the law firm M/s Lee & Lee, but she denied drafting the will.

According to the summary of a statutory declaration by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in June 2017, Ms Kwa had prepared all of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s wills, except the last one.

In the summary — which included emails from Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs Lee Suet Fern to Mr Lee Kuan Yew — Mr Lee Hsien Yang, who is the late Mr Lee's younger son, said he was unable to get in touch with Ms Kwa, believing that she was away, and urged Mr Lee Kuan Yew to proceed with executing the will.

The Last Will had an increased share given to Mr Lee Hsien Yang, as well as a demolition clause on the family’s 38 Oxley Road property.

In his declaration, PM Lee said that Mr Lee Kuan Yew had given instructions to remove the demolition clause — and it was removed from the two preceding wills — but it “somehow found its way back into the Last Will”.

He also detailed that Mrs Lee Suet Fern “saw to the preparation of the new will and got one of her lawyers to be on standby to get it executed by Mr Lee”.

On its referral of the case to the Law Society, the AGC said: “(Mrs) Lee’s conduct appears prima facie to be in breach of Rules 25 and 46 of the Professional Conduct Rules.”

It added that the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules “requires that lawyers do not place themselves in a position of conflict”.

“Where a person intends to make a significant gift by will to any member of the lawyer’s family, the lawyer must not act for the person and must advise him to obtain independent advice in respect of the gift. This rule applies even if the lawyer is related to the person making the gift,” said the AGC.

In its statement on Monday, the AGC said: “The AGC has written to Mrs Lee several times, since October 2018, asking her to explain the position, and her role (if any) in the preparation of the Last Will. Mrs Lee was also assured that if she had good explanations for her conduct, then the matter will end. However, despite asking for extensions of time to respond, Mrs Lee did not answer the questions that AGC had asked.”

“Given her refusal to answer, AGC then referred the matter to the Law Society. The Deputy Attorney-General has also further requested that the matter be referred to a Disciplinary Tribunal,” said the AGC.

The matter was overseen by Deputy Attorney-General Lionel Yee, as Attorney-General Lucien Wong — who had previously acted for PM Lee — has recused himself from the case.

When contacted on Monday, Mr Lee Hsien Yang referred TODAY to his and Dr Lee’s Facebook posts of June 2017, which he said set out the roles Mrs Lee had or had not played in preparing his father’s will.

In a post on June 16, 2017, for instance, Mr Lee reiterated that Ms Kwa had drafted the late prime minister’s will, and that Mrs Lee’s law firm did not draft any will. He added that Paragraph 7 of the will — where Mr Lee Kuan Yew expressed his wishes for the family home — was drafted at his father’s direction, and "put into language" by Mrs Lee.

When he was satisfied, Mr Lee Kuan Yew had asked Ms Kwa to insert it into his will, Mr Lee had said then.

Mrs Lee, who is overseas, declined to respond to TODAY’s queries, citing her firm’s rules which do not allow comments to the media.

In referring the matter to the Law Society, the AGC noted that it does not make any findings on the merits of the case.

“AGC does not determine guilt or innocence. It is for the Disciplinary Tribunal appointed by the Chief Justice to investigate the matter and determine if there was misconduct, and if so what action should be taken. Mrs Lee will be entitled to make her case to the Tribunal,” said the AGC.

In response to TODAY's queries, a Law Society spokesperson said: “Any complaint received by the Law Society will go through due process as stipulated in the Legal Profession Act. Such proceedings are also ordinarily subject to statutory confidentiality. As such, Law Society is unable to comment on, or divulge details about, disciplinary complaints.”

Earlier on Sunday night, Dr Lee Wei Ling posted on Facebook claiming that the AGC had “lodged over 500 pages of complaint to the Law Society against Hsien Yang’s wife over the preparation (of) our father’s will”.

The only daughter of Mr Lee Kuan Yew said: “As far as we know, this is an unprecedented use of such legal process involving a private will.”

“Lee Kuan Yew, a highly regarded lawyer, never complained about his will. No beneficiary has complained to the Law Society, not even Hsien Loong who was advised by Lucien Wong (previously his personal lawyer, now AG),” Dr Lee Wei Ling added.

“Why therefore this new attack on our father’s will? Why is this being initiated now, and by the AGC, after all this time?” she wrote.

Since Mr Lee’s passing in 2015, the issue of how to commemorate his legacy has been widely discussed, including what would become of his Oxley Road home, which he had lived in since the 1940s.

That same year, PM Lee recused himself from all government decisions relating to 38 Oxley Road.

In 2017, a ministerial committee was set up by the Cabinet to weigh the various options for the family home, “including the historical and heritage significance of the house, as well as to consider (the late) Mr Lee’s thinking and wishes in relation to the house”.

Additional reporting by Kenneth Cheng.

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