SINGAPORE - A lawyer with 29 years’ experience overcharged a client by billing the company $1.34 million in professional fees for work that was later assessed to be worth $288,000.

Mr Syn Kok Kay, who was sole proprietor of Patrick Chin Syn & Co, also flouted a court order to submit his bill of costs within 14 days after the client asked the court to assess the bills that he rendered.

On Tuesday, Mr Syn was suspended for three years and nine months by the Court of Three Judges for overcharging and for non-compliance with a court order.

The court said in a judgment written by Justice Steven Chong: “It is clear to us that the extent of the overcharge was egregious.”

The court noted that Mr Syn had charged his client JWR, a medical products company, more than 4.65 times what he should have charged, amounting to an overcharge of $1.05 million.

This gives rise to a strong inference of unethical behaviour, said the court, which included Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Justice Tay Yong Kwang.

In his defence, Mr Syn said he genuinely believed that the fees he charged were reasonable. But the court rejected this and concluded that he intentionally and unethically took advantage of JWR.

The court noted that Mr Syn billed JWR at regular intervals for round figures without any sort of itemisation for his fees.

The bill of costs that he ultimately submitted – more than a year after the stipulated deadline – also did not disclose any reasonable justification for the bills, the court added.

Not only did Mr Syn fail to make restitution to JWR, but he also tried to hide his assets from his creditors, including JWR, by transferring a vehicle and a club membership to his wife, each for $1.

“His attempts at concealing his assets constituted an extension of his unethical behaviour in overcharging JWR, and further signified an utter lack of remorse,” said the court.

The court also took into account as aggravating factors Mr Syn’s seniority and a previous warning letter from the Law Society in 2013 for failure to adhere to an agreed fee cap.

Mr Syn currently cannot practise law, as he is an undischarged bankrupt.

The suspension will take effect upon his discharge from bankruptcy.

In 2015, Mr Syn was engaged by JWR to sue the company’s former lawyer in a claim for $8.9 billion. The suit was dismissed by the High Court in May 2019.

For his services, Mr Syn charged JWR a total of over $1.36 million, comprising about $24,000 in disbursements, which are out-of-pocket expenses, and $1.34 million in professional fees.

The bills were rendered on a regular basis from December 2015 to April 2019 to JWR, which paid the sums in full.

JWR later applied to the court for an order to assess the bills, in a process known as taxation.

Mr Syn was ordered by the court to submit a bill of costs by Nov 7, 2019, but he did not file one until Nov 18, 2020.

At the taxation hearing on Feb 9, 2021, the costs for work done were taxed down to $288,000, and Mr Syn was ordered to refund the difference of $1.05 million.

After he failed to return the sum, JWR applied for a bankruptcy order against him on July 30, 2021, and he was adjudged bankrupt on Sept 30, 2021.

JWR also lodged a complaint with the Law Society, which brought three professional misconduct charges against Mr Syn.

He pleaded guilty to the charges before a disciplinary tribunal, which found that there was cause of sufficient gravity for him to be sanctioned by the court on two of the charges.