The lawyers: 21/2-year bonanza of billable hours

Source : Sunday Times - 5 Apr 2009

It was not just the property industry which closely followed the Horizon Towers saga: Legal eagles could not take their eyes off the drama either.

After all, some of the biggest names in Singapore’s legal fraternity were assembling in the same courtroom to slug it out over the sale of the estate.

No fewer than six Senior Counsel and virtually all the major law firms here joined in at various points in the protracted legal wrangle, which added up to a cool 21/2 years’ worth of billable hours. Some estimate that the lawyers’ bills would come up to at least $4 million.

~ The majority sellers as a whole were represented by a team from Tan, Rajah and Cheah led by Senior Counsel Chelva Rajah.
~ A different group of 13 majority sellers was represented by Senior Counsel Andre Yeap from Rajah and Tann.
~ Some of the unhappy majority owners who regretted signing the sale agreement hired Wong Partnership to advise them.
~ Former Senior Counsel and current Law Minister K. Shanmugam also made an appearance, heading the Allen & Gledhill team representing the estate’s buyer, the HPL consortium. In fact, Mr Shanmugam’s last submission in court was for Horizon Towers - which also means he lost his last court case.
~ The four minority owners who fought all the way had Harry Elias Partnership, which fielded Senior Counsel K. S. Rajah, partner Philip Fong, and its own founder, Senior Counsel Harry Elias.
~ Another minority owner, Ms Jasmine Tan, was initially represented by Mr Tan Kok Quan but later decided to go it alone.
~ Yet another minority owner engaged Phang & Co, which brought in Senior Counsel Michael Hwang.
~ Law firm J. S. Yeh & Co also made a surprise appearance on behalf of a majority owner.

So just how much have all these lawyers reaped from the battle?

The law firms would not disclose their fees, but it is understood that the 173 majority owners have already paid up to $15,000 each, or about $2.6 million in all.

Ms Tan has said her group of three minority owners coughed up about $1.5 million in fees. Legal experts say the fees for the buyers probably amounted to a few million dollars.

Then there are the conveyancing fees charged by Drew & Napier, which handled the collective sale.

The court has yet to decide who will pay the costs of the appeal, but one thing is for sure: In this epic court battle, the biggest winners are the lawyers.