The Straits Times
SINGAPORE – As a result of his lawyer’s “inaction and lackadaisical conduct”, what should have been a court victory for a taxi driver who was injured in an accident turned into a complete defeat.
The lawyer, Mr Ooi Oon Tat, who was called to the Bar in 1989, had failed to provide certain documents requested by the opposing side, which ultimately resulted in his client’s lawsuit being struck out.
On Friday (July 1), Mr Ooi was suspended for five years for his misconduct.
In suspending him, the Court of Three Judges, led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, said this was a deplorable case of a lawyer who was in “grave dereliction of duty to his client”.
The court said Mr Ooi effectively destroyed his client’s cause of action by failing to act on his client’s instructions and to provide the documents and failing to make good any of the loss suffered by his client.
The client, cabby Lim See Meng, had sued the driver of a vehicle that crashed into the rear of his taxi in 2012 for causing him to suffer chest discomfort and pain in the neck and ribs.
