Singapore legislation
Section 78
Section 78
Employment or remuneration of certain persons by solicitor
(1)
A solicitor must not in connection with his or her practice as such, without the consent of the court obtained on an application by originating summons served upon the Attorney‑General and upon the Society, employ or remunerate any person who to his or her knowledge is an undischarged bankrupt or has been —
struck off a roll of legal practitioners by whatever name called otherwise than at his or her own request in Singapore or in any part of Malaysia or elsewhere and remains struck off;
suspended from practising as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore or in any part of Malaysia or elsewhere and remains suspended;
convicted of an offence involving dishonesty;
convicted of an offence under section 33 of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act 1906 or under any provision of this Act;
listed as a tout under section 39 of the Family Justice Act 2014, section 62 of the State Courts Act 1970 or section 73 of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969; or
a person in respect of whom an order under subsection (4) has been made.
(2)
A solicitor must not in connection with his or her practice as such, without the consent of the Attorney‑General, employ or remunerate any person who to his or her knowledge had been employed as a public officer.
(3)
Subsection (2) does not apply to any public officer who is an advocate and solicitor or a qualified person or in respect of whom the consent of the court or the Attorney‑General had previously been obtained under subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be.
(4)
On application made by or on behalf of the Attorney‑General or the Society, the court may make an order directing that, as from a date to be specified in the order, a solicitor must not, in connection with his or her practice as such, employ or remunerate any person, the subject of the application, who —
has been a party to any act or default of a solicitor in respect of which a complaint has been or might properly have been made against that solicitor under the provisions of this Act; or
has so conducted himself or herself while employed by a solicitor that, had the person been a solicitor, his or her conduct might have formed the subject of a complaint under the provisions of this Act against him or her.
(5)
Every application under subsection (4) must be served upon the person in respect of whom it is made, and upon his or her employer or previous employer if his or her employer or previous employer is a solicitor, not less than 10 days before the application is to be heard.
(6)
Every order made under subsection (4) must be filed in a file to be kept for this purpose by the Registrar, and the file may be inspected by any solicitor without fee.
(7)
Before a solicitor employs or remunerates any person (other than an advocate and solicitor or a qualified person) in connection with his or her practice as such, he or she must —
require the person to make a statutory declaration to show that he or she is not an undischarged bankrupt and that he or she does not come within the class of persons enumerated in subsection (1)(a) to (f) and had not been employed as a public officer and that he or she is not a person in respect of whom an order has been made under subsection (4); and
within 14 days of commencing to employ the person, deliver to the Society a certified copy of the statutory declaration so made.
(8)
Disciplinary proceedings may be taken against any solicitor who acts in contravention of this section.