[WEBINAR] Witness Preparation Where to Draw the Line? · [WEBINAR] Witness Preparation – Where to Draw the Line? 2 About the Forum Compañia De Navegación Palomar, SA v Ernest

Registration Fees

Category Fees

(Inclusive of 7% GST and course materials)

Law Society Member

$64.20 Free*

SCCA Member $115.56

Non-Member $128.40

[WEBINAR] Witness Preparation – Where to Draw the Line?

6 August 2020, Thursday 2.30pm – 4.50pm

This programme is conducted as a live webinar.

No. of Public CPD Points:

2.0

Practice Area: Ethics and

Professional Responsibility

Training Level: General

*From 1 July to 31 December

2020, webinars are free for all

LawSoc Members. Terms and conditions apply.


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About the Forum

Compañia De Navegación Palomar, SA v Ernest Ferdinand Perez De La Sala [2017] SGHC 14 and the

corresponding appeal in Ernest Ferdinand Perez De La Sala v Compañia De Navegación Palomar, SA

[2018] 1 SLR 894 were the first Singapore cases to deal at length with the thorny issue of witness

preparation practices. In the latter appeal, the Court of Appeal laid down three broad guidelines for

witness preparation flowing from the fundamental principle that the witness’s evidence must be his own

independent testimony: (1) solicitors cannot allow anyone to supplant the witness’s testimony; (2)

witness preparation should not be too lengthy or repetitive; and (3) witness preparation should not be

carried out in groups to prevent contamination of witness testimonies. At the same time, careful witness

preparation is undeniably essential to presenting a client’s case in the best possible light, and is

especially important when dealing with lay witnesses who are unfamiliar with court procedures. Where

should the line be drawn between legitimate advocacy practices and practices that compromise the

integrity of a witness’s evidence, and what are some best practices that solicitors can adopt when

preparing witnesses? This forum brings together a multi-jurisdictional group of speakers to discuss and

share their diverse perspectives on this controversial area of legal practice.

Learning Objectives

Through this forum, participants will acquire an understanding of: -

Different approaches to witness preparation across jurisdictions;

Best practices and pitfalls in witness preparation;

Ethical issues surrounding witness preparation; and

Witness preparation in different contexts such as litigation and arbitration.

Admin Note to Singapore Practitioners and s36B Foreign Lawyers in relation to the Mandatory CPD Scheme:

No of Public CPD Points: 2.0

Practice Area: Ethics and Professional Responsibility

Training Level: General

Participants who wish to obtain CPD Points are reminded that they must comply strictly with the Attendance Policy set out in the CPD Guidelines.

For this activity, this includes logging in at the start of the webinar and logging out at the conclusion of the webinar in the manner required by the

organiser, and not being absent from the entire activity for more than 15 minutes. Participants who do not comply with the Attendance Policy will not

be able to obtain CPD Points for attending the activity. Please refer to http://www.sileCPDcentre.sg for more information.

Note: In the course of the event, photographs/videos/interviews of participants could be taken/conducted by the Law Society or parties appointed by the Law Society for the purpose of post event publicity, either in the Law Society’s official publication/website, social media platforms or any third party’s publication/website/social media platforms approved by the Law Society.


Programme Outline

Time Programme

2.30pm – 2.40pm Opening Remarks

Gregory Vijayendran, SC – President, The Law Society of Singapore; Partner,

Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP

2.40pm – 3.40pm Panel 1: Witness Preparation: Common law perspectives

Moderator

Alvin Chen – Director (Legal Research and Development), The Law Society of

Singapore

Panellists

Gregory Vijayendran, SC – President, The Law Society of Singapore; Partner,

Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP

Cameron Ford – Partner, Squire Patton Boggs Singapore

Wade Coriell – Partner, King & Spalding (Singapore) LLP

David Bateson – International Arbitrator Member, 39 Essex Chambers

3.40pm – 3.50pm Break

3.50pm – 4.50pm Panel 2: Witness Preparation: Ethics and Best Practices

Moderator

Alvin Chen – Director (Legal Research and Development), The Law Society of

Singapore

Panellists

The Honourable Justice Choo Han Teck – Supreme Court of Singapore

Associate Professor Helena Whalen-Bridge – Faculty of Law, National University

of Singapore

Tan Swee Im – International Arbitrator Member, 39 Essex Chambers

Dinesh Dhillon – Partner, Allen & Gledhill LLP

4.50pm End


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Speakers’ Profile

Gregory Vijayendran, SC – President, The Law Society of Singapore; Partner, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP

Gregory has considerable experience and expertise in various spheres of civil

and commercial litigation and arbitration and dispute resolution. His present

practice encompasses a specialization in banking and corporate insolvency as

well as litigation and arbitration of commercial contracts to company and

shareholder disputes and chancery matters. He is also a recognized expert in

charities governance.

Gregory graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1992 with an

LLB (Hons) and was placed in the Top 10 of the Postgraduate Practice Law

Course of his batch. He was one of the main speakers in the university’s mooting

team in 1992 that emerged world runners-up at the 1992 Jessup International

Law Moot Competition in Washington D.C. Gregory was thereafter admitted to

the Singapore Bar in 1993 and joined Rajah & Tann LLP after being in practice

in two other leading law firms for 15 years (jointly heading the Banking and

Insolvency Litigation Practice group of another leading law firm). Gregory was

appointed Senior Counsel in 2019.

Among others things, he has been judicially commended by the Supreme Court

in reported judgments for “meticulous professionalism”, “demonstrating what it

is (and ought to be) like to practice the law in its best (indeed, its highest)

tradition”, and being “valiant”.

Gregory presently serves as President and Executive Committee Member of the

Law Society. He serves as Vice President on the Executive Board of Singapore

Academy of Law and is a member of its Audit Committee. He served for close

to a decade as Law Society Publication Committee Chairman from 2005 to

2014. He has previously served on the Inquiry Panel of the Law Society of

Singapore, as Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Insolvency and

Practitioners’ Association of Singapore (“IPAS”) and as inaugural Subject

Coordinator for the Part B Elective on Wills, Probate and Administrations

(appointed Senior Teaching Fellow) of the Singapore Institute of Legal

Education. He regularly conducts nationwide and professional wide seminars

and counts as his personal teaching highlights being part of Summer School

Faculty in Handong International Law School (teaching International Business

Transactions in 2008 and 2009), a lecturer on company law developments to

the ACCA Annual Conferences for several years and lecturing for the LKY

School of Public Policy in 2014 on Non Profit Management for the 21st Century.

He serves as Deputy President of the Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents as

well as on the Bioethics Advisory Committee (receiving the Long Service Award

in November 2016).


Alvin Chen – Director (Legal Research and Development), The Law Society of Singapore

Alvin graduated from the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, with

Second Class (Upper Division) Honours, and holds two Master of Laws degrees

from New York University and the National University of Singapore. Alvin has

worked as a lawyer in both the public and private sectors.

Alvin was the General Editor of two guides on professional ethics published by

the Law Society of Singapore - Guide to Professional Conduct for Advocates

and Solicitors (2011) and Professional Ethics Digest 2019. He also authored

“Judicial Developments in Ethical Lawyering in Singapore” for the September

2013 issue of the Singapore Academy of Law Journal. He has written a number

of articles on professional ethics for the Singapore Law Gazette and was the

winner of the 2017 Law Gazette Awards for his article “Ethical Limits of Making

Imputations Against Complainants of Sexual Offences: Time for Reform?”

published in the February 2017 issue of the Law Gazette. Two of his other

articles on professional ethics were also commended in the 2014 and 2015 Law

Gazette Awards

Alvin has written a book and contributed book chapters on professional ethics

and regulation:

Understanding Lawyers’ Ethics in Singapore (Lexis-Nexis, 2016): co-

author

“Ethical Duties in the Conduct of Civil Proceedings” in Civil Litigation in

Singapore (Sweet & Maxwell, 2016): author

“Singapore: Regulating Domestic and Foreign Lawyers – Singapore's

Unified Approach” in International Perspectives on the Regulation of

Lawyers and Legal Services (Hart Publishing, 2017): co-author

Cameron Ford – Partner, Squire Patton Boggs Singapore

Cameron is a partner with Squire Patton Boggs Singapore practising in

international dispute resolution. Until August 2019 he was Senior Counsel with

Rio Tinto in Singapore practising in disputes and commercial law. As well as the

usual LLB and LLM, he has a Graduate Certificate in International Arbitration, a

Master of Arts in Contemporary China, and is a PhD candidate at Monash

University on security for costs in international arbitration.

Cameron spent most of his career in private practice in law firms and at the

independent Bar in Australia practising in commercial dispute resolution before

going in-house in 2008 with National Australia Bank and then Downer Group.

He has worked as in-house counsel in Singapore since 2009 with 6 months

Mongolia.

Cameron is a Fellow of the major arbitral institutes and is on the panels of the

SIAC, SIArb, AIAC, HKIAC and the Beijing Arbitration Commission. He is Chair

of the SIAC Users Council Committee for Australia and New Zealand, a Member

of the SIAC Users Council Executive Committee, a member of the Executive

Committee of the Singapore Corporate Counsel Association and Chair of its


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Energy, Commodities and Shipping Chapter, Advisor to the Publications

Committee of the Singapore Law Society, and is a mediator and security of

payment adjudicator.

Wade Coriell – Partner, King & Spalding (Singapore) LLP

Wade Coriell focuses on complex, international commercial and investment

disputes. A partner, deputy head of our International Arbitration practice and

leader of our Asia disputes group, Wade has been recognized by Chambers as

"an excellent advocate whose level of experience and ability make him stand

out." He has represented clients in several of the largest international

arbitrations on record in Asia and Latin America, and has particular experience

in the oil and gas sector.

Wade has particular strength in handling high-profile matters pending

simultaneously in multiple jurisdictions, often involving elements of public,

investor and government relations. He has handled disputes against the

governments of Argentina, Armenia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Peru, the Philippines,

Romania and Venezuela, as well as international arbitrations for commercial

clients in a number of other countries. His recent work includes handling four

Asia-based disputes of over $1 billion each.

Wade has represented clients before the Singapore International Arbitration

Centre, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, the International Centre

for Settlement of Investment Disputes, the International Chamber of Commerce,

the London Court of International Arbitration, the American Arbitration

Association, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and other

institutions.

Since 2015, Chambers has ranked Wade annually for his strong international

arbitration practice. He also is listed in Who’s Who, Arbitration Future Leaders,

Legal 500, Global Arbitration Review 100, and Latin Lawyer. In 2013, Law360

named him as one of five Rising Stars in International Energy Law, and The

Global Arbitration Review has called him "a lawyer to know."

David Bateson – International Arbitrator Member, 39 Essex Chambers

David Bateson is a leading international arbitrator who has been involved as

arbitrator in over 150 arbitrations in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and

South America. He has acted as Chairman, party-appointed arbitrator, or sole

arbitrator in arbitrations under the rules of the AAA, AIAC, BANI, CIETAC, DIAC,

HKIAC, ICC, LCIA, PCA, SIAC and VIAC, or in ad hoc arbitrations.

He has extensive experience in disputes in a variety of industry sectors

including, construction, resources, commodities, insurance, joint ventures,

shareholder agreements, shipping and telecommunications.

Chambers Asia 2016 described him as “pre-eminent and widely experienced”,

“one of the top arbitrators in the region” “who is excellent at pretty much

everything he is doing” “an accomplished arbitrator, who is getting more and

more cases in Asia, and worldwide”. The Legal 500: Asia Pacific stated that

David is “one of the top arbitrators in the region”.


Chambers Asia 2017 described him as “a very good arbitrator”, and praises him

for “writing a very good award”. It adds that he is “well able to control an

arbitration” and “culturally sensitive”. He is listed in Chambers’ list of Most in

Demand Arbitrators for Asia.

In recent editions of Global Counsel 3000, Who’s Who of Commercial

Arbitration, Chambers Asia, PLC Which Lawyer and Asia Pacific Legal 500,

David was named as a leading arbitrator and an expert in commercial

arbitration, commercial litigation and construction. He is listed in Chambers

Asia Most in Demand Arbitrators (Tier 1 in Singapore).

He has over 39 years of legal experience and is a specialist in all forms of

dispute resolution including arbitration, litigation and alternative dispute

resolution. He has been resident in Asia since 1980 and before that he lived in

Africa, Fiji and New Zealand. He is now based in Singapore.

The Honourable Justice Choo Han Teck – Supreme Court of Singapore

Justice Choo Han Teck was appointed Judicial Commissioner in 1995 and a

High Court Judge in 2003.

Justice Choo received his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Singapore

(renamed as National University of Singapore in 1980) in 1979 and Master of

Laws from the University of Cambridge in 1986.

He began his career as a legal assistant in M/s Murphy & Dunbar in 1980, before

joining the National University of Singapore as a lecturer in 1984. Four years

later, he joined M/s Allen & Gledhill as a partner, and in 1992, moved to M/s

Helen Yeo & Partners in the same capacity.

He was also appointed President of the Military Court of Appeal in 2004.

Associate Professor Helena Whalen-Bridge – Faculty of Law, National

University of Singapore

Helena Whalen-Bridge is an Associate Professor at the National University

Faculty of Law. Helena is admitted to practice in the U.S., and prior to joining

academia she did jury trials and appeals as a Deputy Attorney General for the

State of California. At NUS, Helena teaches Legal Ethics and advanced skills

courses including Legal Argument and Narrative. She received the NUS

Teaching Excellence Award and is a longstanding member of the Law Faculty’s

Teaching Excellence Committee. She is currently working as an Expert in the

Education for Justice project of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime. Her research

focuses on the areas of legal ethics and pro bono, access to justice, and legal

narrative. Recent publications include "Persuasive Legal Narrative: Articulating

Ethical Standards" (Legal Ethics, 2019), “Singapore: Regulating Domestic and

Foreign Lawyers-Singapore's Unified Approach” (with co-author Alvin Chen, in

International Perspectives on the Regulation of Lawyers and Legal Services,

Hart, 2017), and Understanding Lawyers’ Ethics in Singapore (with co-author

Alvin Chen, LexisNexis, 2016). Helena is a founding member of the Law Society

of Singapore’s Project Law Help, and she has been the Faculty Advisor for the

Law Faculty’s student Pro Bono Group since its inception in 2005.


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Tan Swee Im – International Arbitrator Member, 39 Essex Chambers

Tan Swee Im is an international arbitrator member at 39 Essex Chambers,

based in their Kuala Lumpur office. Her focus is on the construction,

infrastructure and energy sectors with extensive experience ranging from the

early procurement strategy stage, to contract drafting, advisory during the

project life, through to dispute resolution. She has spent more than 30 years in

these sectors in counsel and advisory roles, including having been seconded to

the KL International Airport and Malaysia-Singapore Second Crossing projects,

been an in-house counsel and founded a boutique legal firm in 1999. She is now

a fulltime Arbitrator and Adjudicator and Accredited Mediator. She is on the

panel of the Asian International Arbitration Centre, Singapore International

Arbitration Centre, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, Hainan

International Court of Arbitration, Beihai Asia International Arbitration Centre as

well as an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya, Barrister-at-Law

(Middle Temple), a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Malaysian

Institute of Arbitrators, Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution,

Chartered Institute of Building, Malaysian Society of Adjudicators and Dispute

Board Federation and holds a Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration.

Dinesh Dhillon – Partner, Allen & Gledhill LLP

Dinesh is the Co-Head of the Firm’s International Arbitration practice. He

practises international arbitration and litigation.

He has acted as lead counsel in international arbitration for global multinational

corporations in the telecommunications, airline, hotel, commodities,

construction, manufacturing and projects industries. He has also represented

sovereign states in international arbitration cases. He has represented clients in

landmark cases before the Singapore courts relating to jurisdiction of arbitral

tribunals, challenges to arbitration awards and attempts to resist enforcement of

foreign arbitration awards.

Dinesh has represented multinational companies in cases before the Singapore

International Commercial Court (SICC), Singapore High Court and Court of

Appeal relating to banking, corporate, employment, entertainment, insurance,

property and shareholder disputes. He has also acted for statutory boards in

judicial review cases.

Dinesh is recommended for his expertise in international arbitration and

commercial litigation in leading publications, such as Chambers Global and The

Legal 500 Asia Pacific where he has been described as “outstanding”, a “well

respected litigator” and “strong on strategy and case management”. Who’s Who

Legal (Arbitration-2020) published in association with Global Arbitration Review

says Dinesh is regarded as “excellent, smart, easy to work with and a great

orator”.

Dinesh is the President of The Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, Fellow of the

Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Honorary Treasurer of the Law

Society’s Pro Bono Services Office and Chair of the Asia Pacific Newsletter of

the International Bar Association.


Registration

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Documents

[WEBINAR] Witness Preparation Where to Draw the Line? · [WEBINAR] Witness Preparation – Where to Draw the Line? 2 About the Forum Compañia De Navegación Palomar, SA v Ernest