Partners' Profiles

TIN Keng Seng Eric

Eric is a Partner of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice and heads its Medico-Legal Practice Group (MLPG). He is a panel legal advisor to the Medical Protection Society Ltd (MPS). His principal area of practice is appellate and trial advocacy with focus on medico-legal, criminal, quasi-criminal, civil, commercial, financial and insolvency cases.  He was named In the Asia-Pacific Legal 500 (2008) for dispute resolution.

Eric graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Second Class, Upper Honours) degree from the National University of Singapore in 1996. Effectively bilingual, Eric obtained a Master of Laws (Chinese Law) from the National University of Singapore in 2005 under a Singapore Legal Service scholarship. He is presently an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

Since joining private practice in 2008, Eric has acted as the lead/instructed counsel in the following cases:

1. Successfully persuaded the Court of Appeal in Hong Leong Bank Bhd v. Soh Seow Poh[2009] 4 SLR(R) 525 to allow his client, a bankrupt who owed his creditors about S$31 million, to be unconditionally discharged after 7 years in bankruptcy. This is a landmark case that distinguished a previous Court of Appeal case and redefined the law on unconditional discharge from bankruptcy. 
2. Successfully persuaded the Court of Appeal in Xing Rong Pte Ltd v. VisionHealthOne Corp Pte Ltd(CA 14/2010) to overturn the High Court's decision to strike out a notice of appeal concerning a discovery order. In particular, this case clarified whether a party to the main action has legal standing to appeal a discovery order made against its bank account, and the finality of such an order pending an appeal.
3. Successfully represented a well-known international beverage company which allegedly contravened a law that regulates and controls advertisements and sale of tobacco. On the basis of his written representations, the local health authority involved was persuaded not to press charges.
4. Rendered an opinion on the concept of attorney fees in Singapore for an admiralty case in a United States court.
5. Successfully acted for a senior pilot of a well-known international airline, who was not prosecuted after police investigations into an alleged criminal offence. 

With his background in public law, Eric is experienced in assisting and defending registered medical practitioners in disciplinary proceedings of the Singapore Medical Council (SMC). Some of his significant cases since 2008 include:

1. Successfully persuaded a Disciplinary Committee not to impose a term of suspension on a general practitioner who inappropriately prescribed hypnotic medications.
2. Successfully defended a senior specialist before a Health Committee against a charge that his fitness to practice was impaired by a physical or mental condition.
3. Successfully defended a prominent specialist before a Disciplinary Committee on a charge of failure to obtain informed consent for a procedure.
4. Successfully assisted a prominent specialist in 3 complaints by the same complainant made to the SMC. No formal disciplinary Inquiry was ordered against the specialist.
5. Provided assistance to a Head of Department of a restructured hospital in a complaint made by a colleague. The matter was resolved without a formal disciplinary inquiry.
6. Advised a prominent specialist who ultimately persuaded the local health regulators to adopt a new Medisave code for a cutting-edge surgical technique.
7. Advised a prominent specialist who testified as a Court-Appointed Expert in a high profile litigation involving a local bank.
8. Provided assistance and advice to a locum general practitioner in an unprecedented case involving new media.
9. Acted for several general practitioners in cases of inappropriate prescription of medications before Disciplinary Committees, with satisfactory outcomes.
10. Provided assistance and advice to general practitioners and specialists with interest in aesthetic medicine in a number of complaints and claims by patients, and investigations by the Ministry of Health.

Eric holds a range of concurrent appointments outside of legal practice. Appointed an Adjudicator of the Financial Industry Dispute Resolution Centre Ltd (FIDReC) in 2008, Eric has been  entrusted with the adjudication of the high-profile Lehman-related structured financial product disputes, and life insurance product disputes. In January 2010, he was appointed an ad hoc Referee of the Small Claims Tribunals by the President on the recommendation of the Chief Justice. In March 2010, Eric was appointed a member of the Criminal Law Advisory Committee (CLAC), which comprises prominent and well respected lawyers, by the Minister for Home Affairs. Eric is also an Honorary Legal Advisor to the following organisations:

1. Singapore Medical Association Task Force on Professional Conduct and Standards.
2. Society of Aesthetic Medicine.
3. Anti-Aging & Aesthetic Medicine Society (Singapore).

He is also a Medico-Legal Reviewer for the International Journal of Applied Clinical Sciences. Prior to joining Donaldson & Burkinshaw in January 2008, Eric has had an illustrious career with the Singapore Legal Service. Between 1996 and 2005, he held the following judicial appointments:

1. District Judge.
2. Magistrate.
3. Coroner.
4. Deputy Registrar, Subordinate Courts.
5. Referee, Small Claims Tribunals.
6. President (NS), Singapore Armed Forces General Court Martial.

Some of his judgments have been published or cited in the following:

1. Sentencing Principles in Singapore, Academy Publishing (2009).
2. Sentencing Practice in the Subordinate Courts (2nd edition), Lexis Nexis (2003).
3. Tax Audit and Investigation Guide, CCH (2009).

Between 2005 and 2007, Eric served in the Attorney-General’s Chambers as a Senior Deputy Public Prosecutor and State Counsel, and dealt with various offences of national and public interests. He also rendered a wide range of legal advice to the police and other law enforcement agencies, ministries and statutory boards.  His other responsibilities included:

1. Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Singapore legal expert in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures.
2. Member of the Inter-Ministry Committee responsible for the Singapore’s 2007 FATF Mutual Evaluation Report.
3. Assisting the Attorney General as Central Authority in administering mutual Assistance in criminal matters and extradition requests.
4. Member of the Singapore delegation which negotiated the Singapore-Indonesian Extradition Treaty. 
5. Singapore legal expert in the administration of the Treaty on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Among Like-Minded ASEAN Countries.

Eric also contributes his time to educating young lawyers and undertaking pro-bono work to serve the community. Since 1997, he has been teaching Criminal Procedure for the Board of Legal Education’s Postgraduate Practice Law Course. He is an assigned counsel of the Supreme Court’s Legal Assistance Scheme for Capital Offences (LASCO) as well as a senior volunteer counsel under the Law Society’s Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS). Eric is a member of the following professional and academic organisations:

1. Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association.
2. Inter-Pacific Bar Association.
3. International Criminal Defence Attorneys Association.
4. Singapore Academy of Law.
5. Law Society of Singapore.
6. Medico-Legal Society of Singapore.
7. Society of International Law.

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