LawSoc council gets 4 new members after election

SINGAPORE – The Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc) Election 2027 saw four new members elected to the council, while two current executive committee members were dropped.

It was held on Oct 22 amid ongoing police investigations into matters raised in a report by LawSoc’s audit committee.

The report had detailed findings on matters that allegedly occurred in the society between 2022 and 2025, including inappropriate workplace conduct, weaknesses in governance and oversight, deficiencies in grievance handling and whistleblowing processes, and shortcomings in internal controls over certain administrative and financial practices.

Jimmy Yim, Debby Lim, Foo Hsien Weng and Siddartha Bodi were the four new members elected to the council.

Yim, who is chairman of Drew & Napier, and Lim, a senior partner at Dentons Rodyk, had previously served on the council.

Foo and Bodi, who are associates at WongPartnership, will be serving on the council for the first time.

Current council members Samuel Chacko, Choo Zheng Xi and Thaddaeus Aaron Tan were reelected.

Two other current members, Joseph Liow and Phoon Wuei, were not successful in securing seats for the 2027 council. They are also currently executive committee members.

Significant failings at LawSoc

The audit of LawSoc was sparked by an online post in September 2025 alleging workplace bullying at the society.

On Aug 5, Law Minister Edwin Tong revealed in a written reply to a question in Parliament that the probe found significant failings in leadership, culture and governance at LawSoc.

Just over a week later, about 200 lawyers gathered for a closed-door meeting at Maxwell Chambers to discuss the findings, with several calling for the full report to be released to members.

The day after the meeting, Tong said redacted versions of the report should be disclosed to members.

The LawSoc council then told members on Aug 20 that it would release a redacted version of the report.

But in an update on Sept 21, it updated members that the police had told them not to further publish or distribute the contents of the report as investigations were ongoing.

Election process

Every October, lawyers in Singapore vote for members of LawSoc’s council.

Voting is compulsory for every advocate and solicitor with a practising certificate.

There are 15 council seats in three categories: senior (at least 15 years’ standing), middle (five to under 15 years) and junior (under five years).

Lawyers vote only for candidates within their own category of experience.

Seven of the 15 seats are for those in the senior category, while the other categories each have four seats.

Each elected council member holds office for a period of two years.

For the 2027 LawSoc council election, a total of seven seats were contested.

Four seats were from the senior category, one was from the middle category, while two were from the junior category.

Aside from the elected members, the Legal Profession Act allows for the Law Minister to appoint up to three members to sit on the council.

The council can also co-opt another three members, bringing the total to 21.

Previously, Dinesh Singh Dhillon from Allen & Gledhill was elected by the council to be the society’s president for 2026.

However, he stepped aside after LawSoc members raised concerns that he was not an elected council member and had instead been appointed by the Law Minister.

Dinesh then became vice president while Professor Tan Cheng Han was made LawSoc president.

David Sun is The Straits Times’ crime correspondent. He has a background in criminology and is a licensed private investigator.