SINGAPORE - A lawyer was handed a nine-month suspension on Wednesday by the Court of Three Judges for his mishandling of a case that resulted in his client going through more litigation and incurring more costs than necessary.
Under Mr Hanam’s handling, the dispute – described by the court as “relatively straightforward” – spawned three separate lawsuits that went on for close to three years. In its judgment on Wednesday, the court said: “While the missteps of Mr Hanam may appear to be no more than periodic episodes of innocent bungling to P&P’s detriment, they are nevertheless cumulative failures – that is, the grounds of misconduct – that were sustained and prolonged over a period of close to three years.”
Mr Pugazendhi had appointed Mr Hanam in November 2016 to represent his company to recover nearly $1.5 million that was owed by Kori in relation to two subcontracts, one for the provision of manpower and the other for the supply of steel fabrication works. On the first day of trial in October 2017, a settlement agreement was reached on the manpower claim, but the trial continued in respect of the steel fabrication claim.Because Mr Hanam had not negotiated for the timeframe for payment, Kori took the position that the sum was payable only at the conclusion of the first suit.
On the same day, Mr Hanam advised Mr Pugazendhi to file a new action against Kori in respect of the settlement. A district court suit for payment of the settlement sum was then filed.PAP to determine course of action after MP Christopher de Souza’s appeal in professional misconduct case