Law Society appoints veteran dispute resolution lawyer as new vice-president

The Law Society of Singapore has appointed veteran lawyer Samuel Chacko as its new vice-president, following the resignation of his predecessor, Mr Chia Boon Teck.

On April 11, the society posted on its social media page that Mr Chacko’s appointment will take effect immediately. His term will run until Dec 31, 2025.

In the same post, the society announced that Senior Counsel Tan Cheng-Han will be appointed as a statutory member in the council.

Mr Chia resigned from his position on March 25 amid a strong backlash over comments he had made about a rape survivor.

Mr Chacko currently heads the dispute resolution practice group at Legis Point Chambers and specialises in arbitration, commercial disputes and international trade, among other areas.

He graduated in 1991 from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, before going on to obtain a Master of Law from the University of Cambridge in 1993, according to his firm’s website.

Mr Chacko was first called to the English Bar in 1992, and admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 1994.

The Straits Times has reached out to Mr Chacko for comment.

Mr Chia, who was elected vice-president of the Law Society in August 2023 and previously served as its treasurer, was accused of “victim shaming” after he posted comments about the victim in the case of convicted rapist Lev Panfilov, a TikToker, scriptwriter and actor with a local YouTube channel.

In his March 22 post on LinkedIn, Mr Chia described the 30-year-old victim as “not exactly a babe in the woods” and commented, “Wow. Was she awake during this marathon?”, in reference to the sexual assault she was subjected to. The post was subsequently deleted.

Panfilov was convicted on March 21 of two counts of rape, one count of sexual assault by penetration, and one count of outrage of modesty.

Mr Chia’s comments led many in the law fraternity to call for his resignation, including Law Society president Lisa Sam Hui Min.

Law Minister K. Shanmugam also responded to Mr Chia’s post, expressing his concern over the impact the comments might have on other victims.

When they had a meeting on April 10, as requested by Mr Chia, Mr Shanmugam called on the lawyer to reflect on his comments.

Mr Chia agreed to reflect, change and find ways of contributing to society, Mr Shanmugam said in a Facebook post on the same day.

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