THEN Lawyer goes through 6 years of hell after being accused of misconduct
NOW, HE CAN PRACTISE AGAIN
So happy, he cries
By Andre Yeo
June 13, 2007
HIS world came crashing down six years ago that fateful day when he stepped into Admiralty West Prison.
Mr Chen, raising his hands in triumph, can finally have peace of mind after six years of uncertainty. -- Pictures: KELVIN CHNG
Lawyer Joseph Chen was accused by a prison officer of pretending to be a friend in order to visit an inmate in September 2001. The inmate was his client.
It led to a series of painful events. Mr Chen lost his job, was declared bankrupt, lost his licence to practice law and suffered from depression.
Last month, the misconduct charge was finally thrown out.
A disciplinary committee appointed by Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong found the evidence given by the prison guard against Mr Chen to be not credible.
Speaking to The New Paper at his condominium last Thursday night , a tired-looking Mr Chen, 35, recounted the toll the incident had taken on him and his family for the last six years.
He was single in 2001 and had been practising law for only three years after graduating from the National University of Singapore in 1997.
After the complaint, Mr Chen said his law firm asked him to resign. He said he was earning about $4,500 a month then.
He was worried about finding another job. He sent 15 resumes to various law firms between October and December 2001, but only two called back.
BECAME DEPRESSED
He did not get the job and became depressed. He was staying alone in a rental flat at Hoy Fatt Road, in Bukit Merah, as it was near his workplace.
Lawyer Joseph Chen said he was depressed after losing his job and having his reputation tarnished.
He then did some relief teaching in a secondary school and became a private tutor, teaching maths, physics, chemistry, biology and literature and earning about $3,500 a month.
That was between 2002 and 2006, after he felt disillusioned with the legal profession following the prison incident.
Even though he could still practise, no one wanted to hire him. He incurred debts of more than $53,000 from bank loans to pay for furniture and appliances for the flat, utility bills and daily expenses.
In 2003, his father died of cancer. In February 2004, he was declared a bankrupt.
Things got worse in 2005 when he was suspended for four years over the misconduct charge by a Court of Three Judges presided over by the previous CJ, Mr Yong Pung How.
Mr Chen said he did not know why it took so long to settle the matter.
His lawyer, Mr R S Bajwa, 56, said Mr Chen could not be located as the notice to appear in court was sent by the Law Society of Singapore to the wrong address.
To supplement his income as a tutor, he rented out his parents' jumbo flat in Woodlands to secondary school students from China and India. His mum moved out and he also gave tuition to these students.
He used this income to settle debts and his bankruptcy was annulled last year. But his entire savings were wiped out.
However, in his darkest hour, there came light in the form of a wife. In 2005, he met a divorcee from China with a teenage son. Six months later, they were married.
He said: 'She accepted me despite knowing about all my problems.'
The couple have a 9-month-old son, Ignatius.
More good news followed.
Last September, he invoked a clause in the Legal Profession Act which allowed him to apply to set aside the judgment on the grounds that the court papers were not served on him personally.
The Law Society had sent them to his old address instead and he had missed the chance to be heard.
AN INJUSTICE
CJ Chan had said in court that because of that, 'an injustice had been done to you'.
Mr Chen said: 'I was elated. I was very happy to hear the highest-ranking judge in our country say that.'
In December, he was told by the Law Society and the Attorney-General Chambers that they had approved his application for a practice certificate. He could practice again.
He said he went to the Supreme Court to submit his application and then to a fast-food restaurant at Funan the IT Mall to celebrate.
TEARS OF JOY
As he tucked into his lunch, he was in tears.
He said: 'They were tears of joy. I was finally free.'
Then came better news on 30 May. The disciplinary committee found him innocent of the misconduct charge.
Mr Chen said: 'When I heard that I had been cleared of the misconduct charge, I was relieved yet sad that it took so long to clear my name.
Mr Bajwa acted for him pro bono (free) as he believed Mr Chen was innocent.
Mr Bajwa said: 'It is a tradition in the bar to help fellow lawyers in difficulty. There is also an added zeal to prove someone innocent if you believe in his case.'
Mr Chen is grateful.
He said: 'For someone with so much experience and who had won cases for other lawyers, it was nice of Mr Bajwa to not charge me when he took on my case. And he did a very good job.'
This is why the former deputy public prosecutor feels strongly about helping the less fortunate such as foreign workers and the poor.
Cases involving claims for personal injury now make up most of the cases Mt Chen takes on in his new firm, K Ravi Associates.
Mr Ravintheran, 43, hired him soon after he was allowed to practise last December.
Mr Ravintheran said: 'This profession is not easy, so you need a certain strength of character to do it. I wanted to give him a second chance because everyone deserves that.'
