Cyber Crimes - Lawyers Are Not Spared

Raymond Reddington of Messrs Reddington and Co, the Insured Practice (“IP”) acted on behalf of Pavlovich Private Limited Company (“the client”) in a cross border transaction.  The other party was represented by Elizabeth ...

Delivering the Goods: The Duty of a Stakeholder

Lawyers who become stakeholders in conveyancing transactions have a duty to hold the monies or documents deposited to them on behalf of either the vendor or the purchaser until the conclusion of certain transactions. In Toh Theam Hock v Kemajuan...

Case Study: Leave No Stone Unturned

Messrs Turner and Associates (“IP”) was the panel lawyer for Bank ABC and handled commercial loan transactions for the bank. In 2013, Cosmo Property Pty Ltd (“Cosmo”) approached the bank to get a commercial loan of RM1,700,000...

Case Study: Always Do The Spadework

Messrs Korra and Associates (“IP”) was named as the Third Defendant in a writ filed by a Claimant who claimed that the IP was involved in a conspiracy to defeat the execution of an arbitration award against the First Defendant. It all ...

Case Study: When It Rains It Pours

Danny Fenton of Messrs Fenton and Co (“IP”) acted for Jasmine, the purchaser in a conveyancing transaction to prepare the SPA. The vendor, Maddie was not represented but was assisted by her daughter and son-in law. After the deposit was p...

Case Study: Present Here But Not There

Messrs Wakeman and Carbuckle (“IP”) represented the purchaser, Sheldon to prepare the SPA for a residential property. The Vendor, Tremorton Pty Ltd (“Tremorton”) was unrepresented. Two months after the execution of the SPA, Sh...

The Skinny On Checklists

Case Study: Avoid Skating on Thin Ice

The Insurers received a notification from Chloe, on behalf of Messrs Mark & Partners. Chloe, a partner in the firm, notified the two letters of demand that she received from her firm’s clients alleging breach of stakeholders’ duty by ...

Dispute on Legal Fees

Lindsey retained Messrs Kline & Partners to represent her in a divorce settlement. By an agreement, Lindsey paid RM20,000 to Kline & Partners as the retainer fee and should the matter proceed to the Court of Appeal, further legal fees will be...

Honesty is Still the Best Policy

Cameron was a defendant in a civil suit and had a summary judgment ordered against her at the Sessions Court. The judgment ordered Cameron to pay costs and interest to the Plaintiff amounting to RM60,000. Messrs Savard & Co was then retained by C...

Faiure to Timely File Notices of Appeal

Case Study 4A Messrs Thompson & Rifkin, the Insured Practice (“IP”) acted for the Defendants in a conveyancing suit. The High Court allowed for the Plaintiff’s application for summary judgment following which there is a 14-day ...

Case Study: Self Representation - Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Law firm ABC & Co was formed in 2007 as a partnership by Anna, Bryan and Calvin.  Two years later, Calvin fell out with Anna and Bryan thus deciding to dissolve their partnership, and he formed a sole proprietorship, Messrs Calvin & Co. ...

Self-Representation: Every Rose Has Its Thorn

“A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client” [1] – Does this apply when a lawyer is representing himself? Undeniably, majority of lawyers would assert that self-representation in their personal capacity is justified as t...

Jack of All Trades, Master of None

Karpal Singh.  Preet Bharara.  Fatou Bensouda.  When these names are mentioned, we instantly recognise them for their work done in a precise area of law. There are numerous arguments as to why being a "Jack of all tr...

An Unforgettable Experience

IP Interview No 1: The IP who had risk management in place IP were the Solicitors for their clients who were the Vendors in the Sale and Purchase Agreements (“SPAs”) for the sale of two pieces of land to the Claimant.   Bo...

Hindsight is Insight

The situations in the case studies below could have been avoided if the lawyers had implemented good practices in their firms.  CASE STUDY No 1: Don’t Forget To Remember Me – Limitation Period On 1 April 2006, John met an acc...

Best Practice Tips

Risk Management or Best Practices, whatever you may call it within your firm is a double-edged sword.  It improves the quality of your legal service by ensuring that you deliver the best to your clients, this gives you the edge over your competi...

Your failure to cooperate could jeopardise your PII claim! (PII Scheme Did You Know Series)

Your failure to cooperate could jeopardise your PII claim! Any insurance policy is a contract between two parties where the Insurer agrees to provide indemnity to the Insured subject to specific terms and conditions.  One of the conditions of y...

Know Your Client: Pre, Present and Prevention

Fraud lies hid in general expressions The general rule of the internet is to never believe everything you read; however, in the context of fraud on a law firm or lawyer, there are many plausible ways of this occurring.  Zooming in...

The Retention and Destruction of Closed Files

The Retention and Destruction of Closed Files   With the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (“the PDPA”) having come into force on 15 November 2013, law firms are all the more obliged to take practical steps in preventing any &ldquo...