Former A-G Walter Woon agrees to act for Lee Suet Fern in misconduct case: Lee Hsien Yang

SINGAPORE — Former Attorney-General Walter Woon has agreed to act for Mrs Lee Suet Fern in a case of possible professional misconduct, said her husband Lee Hsien Yang in a Facebook post on Monday (April 8).

“The AGC (Attorney-General’s Chambers) recently brought a complaint against my wife to the legal disciplinary tribunal. The complaint repeats allegations that Lee Hsien Loong made years ago through his personal lawyer, Lucien Wong, now the Attorney General,” wrote Mr Lee Hsien Yang in his post.

"Former Singapore Attorney-General, Prof Walter Woon, has agreed to act for my wife, Suet Fern. I am delighted to have him on board. We look forward to his legal guidance and wise counsel," he added.

Mr Lee also said that Prof Woon would “further strengthen the defence team of Abraham Vergis and his team at Providence Law Asia”. 

Mr Vergis is also the lawyer for Mr Lee’s son, Mr Li Shengwu, who is currently being prosecuted by the AGC in a contempt of court case over a private Facebook post. 

Responding to queries from TODAY, both Prof Woon and Mr Vergis confirmed the addition of the former attorney-general into the team. 

In an e-mail reply, Prof Woon stated: “Yes, I've been asked to join Suet Fern's defence team. She's an old friend.”  

The AGC referred Mrs Lee — a former managing partner at law firm Morgan Lewis Stamford — to the Law Society of Singapore on Jan 7. The Law Society maintains the standards of the legal profession in Singapore, among its other functions.

In a statement on Jan 7, the AGC said that the case involving Mrs Lee arose after it became aware of a possible case of professional misconduct by her, and that it has a statutory duty to deal with misconduct by lawyers.

While the case does not relate to the validity of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s last will, the AGC noted that the legal profession’s code of conduct requires that lawyers do not place themselves in positions of conflict.

The AGC said that Mrs Lee appeared to have prepared the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s last will and arranged for him to execute it, despite her husband being a beneficiary. The last will also had an increased share given to Mr Lee Hsien Yang.

Responding to the AGC’s statement in January, Mr Lee said that his wife “was never Lee Kuan Yew’s lawyer” and that the law firm Lee & Lee had acted for his father on all his wills, since he drew up the first one in 1995.

Mr Lee added that in 2015, the will had been proven in court with no issues raised, and all parties have since acted in accordance with it.