Medical law veteran named senior counsel

Director of Legal Clinic law firm Kuah Boon Theng, who has been practising law for for nearly 30 years, will be joining 63 other senior counsel in the top ranks of Singapore's lawyers.
Director of Legal Clinic law firm Kuah Boon Theng, who has been practising law for for nearly 30 years, will be joining 63 other senior counsel in the top ranks of Singapore's lawyers. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

Medical law and ethics lawyer Kuah Boon Theng was appointed senior counsel yesterday, in an announcement made by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon at the Opening of Legal Year 2018.

Ms Kuah, 50, director of Legal Clinic law firm, will join other senior counsel in the top ranks of Singapore's lawyers. To date, there are 63 senior counsel in appointment.

The accolade - Singapore's equivalent of Britain's Queen's Counsel - is given to outstanding lawyers with extensive knowledge of the law and the highest professional standing.

The scheme started in 1997.

Ms Kuah has been practising law for almost 30 years and has a special interest in healthcare law. The National University of Singapore graduate obtained a master's in medical ethics and law from King's College University of London in 1993.

Ms Kuah, who was the previous Law Society vice-president, holds positions on various hospital and research committees. She is also honorary legal adviser to the Singapore Medical Association and Academy of Medicine Singapore.

"I have a particular concern for working mothers who feel they have to give up (practising)... They are a valuable group we need to invest in, and I find that working mothers are the most organised and efficient, and go about their work quietly and efficiently," said the mother of three.

Ms Kuah credits her late mother, who died 14 years ago, as a source of inspiration, recounting a pep talk they had in Ms Kuah's early years when she struggled as an "anxious" working mother. She had planned to quit her job and discussed it with her mother, who was a housewife.

"She told me that she never had a choice to have a career and didn't understand why I wanted to give it up... It taught me not to take my career for granted and see it as a blessing and not a burden," said Ms Kuah.

Tan Tam Mei

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 09, 2018, with the headline Medical law veteran named senior counsel. Subscribe