High Court quashes tribunal's decision that cleared SC Alvin Yeo of overcharging

THE High Court has set aside a disciplinary tribunal's decision that Senior Counsel Alvin Yeo did not overcharge his client and directed that the matter be re-heard by a fresh tribunal on fresh charges.

The fresh tribunal will need to consider whether Mr Yeo had failed to ensure that his client - an elderly widow from a prominent family - had the mental capacity to instruct his firm WongPartnership (WP) and agree to the legal fees charged.

High Court Judge Valerie Thean on Wednesday allowed the applications of the Law Society and the Attorney-General (AG) to quash the decision of the disciplinary tribunal (DT) delivered last year. The DT - appointed by the Chief Justice - had found that the two charges alleging that Mr Yeo had overcharged his client had not been made out.