http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/unscrupulous-lawyers-targeting-migrant-workers-say-ngos
The costly services provided by these lawyers are unnecessary and not always in the workers’ best interests.
Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) said that in the first six months of the year, 939 workers are known to have engaged lawyer services from 21 legal firms to seek compensation claims.
Among this group, most of them were making claims through MOM, TWC2 added.
Mr Jolovan Wham of Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME) said injured workers may sometimes need a lawyer’s assistance. However, he was concerned about lawyers who take advantage of a worker’s inability to assert their rights.
Common complaints from workers include lawyers who did not follow up on cases and charged high fees, and those who withheld a worker’s compensation when it has been paid.
There have also been complaints that workers were not informed of how much they had to pay the lawyer and were faced with a huge bill, he said.
TWC2 executive member Debbie Fordyce said lawyers often send their legal assistants to hospitals, the MOM building or areas where foreign workers congregate such as Little India and Farrer Park to solicit clients.
“The lawyers will tell the workers, who are obviously unable to afford the lawyers’ fees, that they will be charged a percentage of the compensation amount,” she said.
Both HOME and TWC2 said they have raised their concerns to the Law Society. However, the society insisted it had not received any complaints by NGOs.
Its spokesperson pointed out that both the Legal Profession Act and the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules currently prohibit contingency fees — or payments for legal services contingent upon there being some recovery or award in the cases.
“It is currently impermissible for a lawyer’s remuneration to be based on an amount proportionate to the sum recoverable by the client,” she added.
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