In the first place, no claim is possible unless there has been an accident, and lawyers cannot be responsible for any rise in the number of accidents.

In the second place, the legal profession has clear regulations concerning the conduct of lawyers which strictly prohibit 'ambulance-chasing'.

An insurer can lay a complaint if he believes that the lawyer is 'ambulance chasing'. Such complaints will be dealt with in accordance with our disciplinary procedures.

There is no evidence that lawyers having conduct of motor-accident matters inflate, that is falsify, insurance claims for injury and/or property damage. In fact, it is difficult to see how a lawyer can do so, given that all claims for property damage have to be substantiated by evidence provided by motor workshops and claims for personal injury have to be substantiated by doctors' medical reports.

It is unfair and counter-productive to make such unsubstantiated allegations in the absence of any evidence of collusion between lawyers and doctors and/or workshops to produce false evidence in support of unmeritorious insurance claims.

Michael Hwang
President
The Law Society of Singapore