Alvin Yeo
SC
杨康海
Member of Parliament
for Chua Chu Kang GRC
In office
7 May 2011 – 25 August 2015
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byYee Chia Hsing (PAP)
Member of Parliament
for Hong Kah GRC
In office
27 April 2006 – 18 April 2011
Preceded byJohn Chen Seow Phun (PAP)
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born(1962-03-28)28 March 1962
State of Singapore
Died30 July 2022(2022-07-30) (aged 60)
Singapore
Political partyPeople's Action Party
SpouseChan Hee Lien
Children2
Alma materKing's College London (LLB)
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • politician

Alvin Yeo Khirn Hai SC (Chinese: 杨康海; pinyin: Yáng Kānghǎi; 28 March 1962 – 30 July 2022) was a Singaporean lawyer and politician who co-founded WongPartnership, one of the Big Four law firms in Singapore. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Nanyang division of Hong Kah GRC between 2006 and 2011, and later Chua Chu Kang GRC between 2011 and 2015.

Education

Yeo obtained his LLB from King's College London.[1]

Career

Politics

Yeo was a member of the People's Action Party. He served as Member of Parliament for Hong Kah GRC from 2006 to 2011, and for Chua Chu Kang GRC from 2011 to 2015.

At the 2015 general elections, he retired from politics, with Yee Chia Hsing succeeding in his seat.[2] During his time as a Member of Parliament, he was Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Law.[3]

Legal

Yeo was called to the bar in 1988.[4] In 1992, Yeo founded the law firm, WongPartnership along with Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, Sundaresh Menon, and Wong Meng Meng.[5][4] In 2000, Yeo was appointed as a senior counsel, making him the youngest lawyer to be named at that time.[1]

On 31 July 2017, a complaint of possible overcharging by Yeo was made by three Court of Appeal judges to the Law Society. The legal bill that was sent to a wealthy widow, who Yeo represented between November 2010 to June 2015 in series of legal proceedings was S$8.8 million. The judges were concerned by the amount charged and with the client's lack of mental capacity. The bill was later discounted by 32.5 percent. On 19 June 2019, a Law Society disciplinary tribunal dismissed the complaint.[6] On 24 June 2019, the Law Society sought a review of the tribunal to the High Court of Singapore.[7] On 8 January 2020, the High Court later ordered for another round of disciplinary tribunal hearings after having found that the original charges brought on by Law Society were not framed properly as they excluded considerations for the client's lack of mental capacity, and also that the original tribunal had decided that the mental capacity issues were not within the scope of complaint, contrary to some of the initial concerns raised by the Appeal judges. On objections from Yeo's lawyers that he would have to be investigated again, the High Court judge, Justice Valerie Thean, called the situation "unfortunate" and cited a 2008 parliamentary act that forbids any judicial review while disciplinary proceedings are ongoing, and thus the Court could only review after disclipinary proceedings completed.[8]

Yeo was the chairman and senior partner of WongPartnership.[9]

Business

After Peter Lim owned Valencia CF in 2014, he appointed a new board of directors which included Yeo.[10] Yeo held the directorship until his death in 2022.[11]

Personal life

Yeo was married to Chan Hee Lien and had two children.[12] He died on 30 July 2022 from cancer, aged 60.[13]

Accolades

References

  1. ^ a b Lim, Alethea (11 January 2000). "Youngest Senior Counsel named". The Straits Times. p. 39.
  2. ^ Leong, John (16 August 2015). "Yee Chia Hsing joins PAP's Chua Chu Kang GRC team". Channel NewsAsia. Singapore.
  3. ^ "Obituary: Comrade Alvin Yeo – a big brother figure & giant in legal fraternity". The PAP Story - Told From Within. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b c K.C. Vijayan (27 March 2017). "Arbitration pioneer Alvin Yeo offers tip to young lawyers". The Straits Times. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  5. ^ Quah, Michelle (25 May 2010). "WongPartnership co-founder to join Temasek". The Business Times. p. 4.
  6. ^ "Tribunal dismisses complaint of possible overcharging against senior lawyer over S$8.8 million legal bill". TODAY. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  7. ^ Tay, Peck Gek (29 June 2019). "Law Society seeks review of decision that cleared lawyer of overcharging". The Business Times. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  8. ^ "High Court orders fresh disciplinary tribunal hearing on complaint of alleged overcharging by senior lawyer". TODAY. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Alvin YEO, Senior Counsel". WongPartnership. 2017. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  10. ^ Tan, Angela (5 December 2014). "Peter Lim's representatives appointed to Valencia's new board at EGM". www.businesstimes.com.sg. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  11. ^ S.L, EDICIONES PLAZA. "VCF | El Valencia CF comunica el fallecimiento de Alvin Yeo, miembro del Consejo de Administración". Plaza Deportiva (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Alvin Yeo | Parliament of Singapore". Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  13. ^ "Former MP Alvin Yeo dies aged 60 after two-year battle with cancer". TODAY. Retrieved 30 July 2022.

External links

Legal profession in Singapore
Member of multiple Parliaments of Singapore
Authority control databases
Categories