Lock Han Chng Jonathan v Goh Jessiline

Lock Han Chng Jonathan v. Goh Jessiline
CourtCourt of Appeal of Singapore
Full case name Lock Han Chng Jonathan (Jonathan Luo Hancheng) v. Goh Jessiline
Decided31 December 2007
Citation[2008] 2 S.L.R.(R.) 455
Case history
Prior actionM.C. Suit No. 21830 of 2005; [2007] 3 S.L.R.(R.) 51, High Court
Court membership
Judges sittingChan Sek Keong C.J., Andrew Phang and V. K. Rajah JJ.A.
Case opinions
  • Settlements made at the Primary Dispute Resolution Centre of the Subordinate Courts of Singapore are binding, and can be included in a court order for enforcement purposes.
  • All parties to pay own costs except Lock; his former lawyer to be investigated for possible breach of professional duties.

Lock Han Chng Jonathan v. Goh Jessiline was a court case decided in the Court of Appeal of Singapore on 31 December 2007 which concerned the validity of settlements made at the Primary Dispute Resolution Centre (PDRC) of the Subordinate Courts of Singapore.

The case was highly publicized in the media for the absurdities in the legal process leading up to the appeal, which ballooned from a compensation payment of S$187.50 to over $120,000 in legal costs over a minor vehicle accident.[1][2][3][4] In particular, one of the appeal judges, Justice V. K. Rajah, expressed to one of the lawyers representing Goh's insurers NTUC Income that "you used a sledgehammer to crack a nut, when all you needed was a nutcracker."[2]

The court decided that all parties were to bear their own legal costs except appellant Jonathan Lock, who could not be billed by his ex-lawyer Andrew Hanam without the court's permission and who was to have his legal costs for the appeal paid by NTUC Income. The Chief Justice also directed the Law Society of Singapore to investigate Hanam's professional conduct.[5] The court upheld the PDRC's decisions in dispute resolution to be binding in subsequent court orders.[2][3]

  1. ^ Teacher wins appeal against insurer over legal costs, Wong Mun Wai, Channel NewsAsia, 3 October 2007
  2. ^ a b c Teacher Jonathan Lock wins case, Selina Lum, The Straits Times, 4 October 2007
  3. ^ a b Common man wins legal battle, Leong Wee Keat, Today (Singapore newspaper), 4 October 2007
  4. ^ Wong, Karen (4 October 2007). "Lawyers get dressing down for their costly frolic". The New Paper.
  5. ^ He 'exposed client to needless risks' Archived 18 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Karen Wong, The New Paper, 5 October 2007