SUKHWANT SINGH

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Mr Singh, a partner at Friedman Lurie Singh & D'Angelo, faced four allegations of unprofessional conduct arising from the firm's handling of a personal injuries claim in which the client, Mrs Deen, died before court approval of a settlement that included general damages no longer recoverable. The firm applied for and obtained a compromise without disclosing the death to the court or the defendant. When the insurer later sought repayment, Mr Singh delayed about two and a half months in notifying the client and in responding to the other party's solicitors, and later demanded that the client pay the firm's costs (and enter a costs agreement) and accepted payment, when the firm should have borne those costs given its own conduct. The Tribunal found Mr Singh knew or ought to have known of the circumstances and concluded all four allegations of unprofessional conduct were made out. No express finding of dishonesty was made. Penalty was deferred to a later hearing; no sanction, fine, or costs order was made in this decision.

Duties found breached:

• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Mitigating factors:

• Mr Singh ultimately accepted the appeal costs should be repaid and arranged a refund of the $1,850 fees