LawSoc council gets 4 new members after election

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

PHOTO: MAXWELLCHAMBERS.COM

Published Oct 22, 2026, 10:15 PM

Updated Oct 22, 2026, 10:15 PM

Four new members were elected to the Law Society of Singapore council on Oct 22. Jimmy Yim and Debby Lim returned in the senior category, while Foo Hsien Weng and Siddartha Bodi won junior seats for the first time.

The election took place during police investigations into a report on alleged bullying, weak governance, poor grievance handling and weak internal controls at LawSoc. Law Minister Edwin Tong said the probe found “significant failings” in leadership, culture and governance.

LawSoc has about 6,500 members and voting is compulsory for practising lawyers. The 2027 election filled seven contested seats, while some current council members were re-elected and others lost their bids.

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.

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.

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.

Jimmy Yim、Debby Lim、Foo Hsien Weng 和 Siddartha Bodi 是当选为理事会的四位新成员。

图片来源：MAXWELLCHAMBERS.COM

发布于 2026 年 10 月 22 日晚上 10:15

更新于2026年10月22日晚上10:15

10月22日，新加坡律师协会理事会选举产生了四名新成员。Jimmy Yim和Debby Lim再次当选为资深成员，而Foo Hsien Weng和Siddartha Bodi首次当选为初级成员。

此次选举正值警方对律师协会涉嫌欺凌、治理不善、申诉处理不当和内部控制薄弱的报告进行调查期间。律政部​​长唐振辉表示，调查发现律师协会在领导层、文化和治理方面存在“重大缺陷”。

律师协会约有6500名会员，执业律师必须投票。2027年的选举填补了七个竞争席位，一些现任理事会成员成功连任，另一些则落选。

新加坡——新加坡律师协会（LawSoc）2027 年选举中，四名新成员当选为理事会成员，而两名现任执行委员会成员被撤换。

会议于 10 月 22 日举行，当时警方正在对律师协会审计委员会报告中提出的事项进行调查。

该报告详细调查了 2022 年至 2025 年间该社会发生的一些事件，包括不当的工作场所行为、治理和监督方面的薄弱环节、申诉处理和举报程序方面的缺陷，以及对某些行政和财务做法的内部控制方面的不足。

德鲁纳皮尔律师事务所主席任志强和丹顿罗迪克律师事务所高级合伙人林先生此前都曾担任过该委员会成员。

Foo 和 Bodi 是 WongPartnership 的合伙人，他们将首次担任理事会成员。

现任议员塞缪尔·查科、朱正熙和塔德乌斯·亚伦·谭连任。

另两位现任成员，Joseph Liow 和 Phoon Wuei，未能成功获得 2027 年理事会席位。他们目前也是执行委员会成员。

法律协会存在重大缺陷

2025 年 9 月，一篇网络帖子指控律师协会存在职场欺凌行为，由此引发了对律师协会的审计。

8月5日，律政部长唐振辉在国会书面答复质询时透露，调查发现律师协会在领导、文化和治理方面存在重大缺陷。

一周多后，约 200 名律师聚集在麦克斯韦尔律师事务所举行闭门会议，讨论调查结果，其中几位律师呼吁向会员公布完整报告。

会议结束后第二天，童表示，报告的删节版应该向成员公开。

8月20日，律师协会理事会告诉会员，将发布该报告的删节版。

但在 9 月 21 日的更新中，该组织向成员们通报，警方已告知他们不要进一步发布或传播该报告的内容，因为调查仍在进行中。

每年十月，新加坡律师协会都会投票选举理事会成员。

持有执业证书的律师和事务律师都必须投票。

理事会共有 15 个席位，分为三类：资深（任职至少 15 年）、中级（任职 5 年至 15 年以下）和初级（任职 5 年以下）。

律师只会投票给与自己经验水平相当的候选人。

15 个席位中有 7 个是为老年人准备的，其他类别各有 4 个席位。

每位当选的议员任期为两年。

2027 年法律协会理事会选举共有七个席位进行竞选。

其中四个席位来自高级组，一个席位来自中级组，两个席位来自初级组。

除了选举产生的成员外，《法律职业法》还允许法律部长任命最多三名成员加入理事会。

理事会还可以增选三名成员，使总人数达到 21 人。

此前，来自 Allen & Gledhill 的 Dinesh Singh Dhillon 被理事会选举为该协会 2026 年的主席。

然而，在律师协会成员提出质疑，认为他并非民选的理事会成员，而是由律政部长任命之后，他便退出了。

随后，Dinesh 当选为副主席，而 Tan Cheng Han 教授则当选为法学会主席。

大卫·孙是《海峡时报》的犯罪记者。他拥有犯罪学背景，并且是一名持证私人侦探。