Michael Palmer resigns from PAP/MP/Speaker of Parliament

[XenonWhite]

  On 12/18/2012 at 12:08 PM, Othello said:

seems like losing Aljunied is not a BIG enough wake up call for them .... now all those tears looks like crocodile tears !! PUI !

 

And u even believe those tears in the first place??

[Enye]

discreetly phased out?

 

Palmer leaves Harry Elias to explore fresh pastures

Former Speaker parts ways with law firm to develop his own practice

[sINGAPORE] Former Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer has left the law firm he has spent all of his professional life at, and is now striking out on his own - with the help of a friend or two.

 

The Business Times has learnt that Mr Palmer, 44, has left Harry Elias Partnership LLP (HEP) - a firm he has been with since he was a pupil - to develop his own practice with Lawrence Quahe & Woo LLC.

 

The latter firm was set up by Lawrence Quahe and Christopher Woo, both of whom had worked in HEP previously and are understood to be close to Mr Palmer.

 

Sources said that the boutique firm has already applied to have its name changed to Quahe Woo & Palmer.

 

Mr Palmer was said to have left HEP at the end of March, having tendered his resignation earlier that month. A quick check of the firm's website found that Mr Palmer is no longer listed as a partner there, though he has yet to be added to Lawrence Quahe & Woo's website.

 

Mr Palmer had made the headlines in December when it was revealed that he had been having an extra-marital affair with People's Association staffer Laura Ong. He had resigned from politics, as a result.

 

But his leaving HEP is believed to have nothing to do with that incident.

 

When contacted, HEP's managing partner Philip Fong said: "Michael left the firm to develop his own practice. He decided that it was time to move on and we let him go. It was an amicable parting. He leaves with our very best wishes."

 

Mr Palmer last held the position of a partner in HEP's Civil and Commercial Litigation Practice Group and head of the Sports and Media Practice Group.

 

He could not be contacted for comment yesterday; he did not answer a call made to his mobile phone nor a voicemail message left for him.

 

However, in an email to the rest of HEP, sent before he left - and which BT managed to view a copy of - Mr Palmer said that his leaving "has not been an easy decision".

 

"However, I feel that it is the right time for me to develop my own practice," he added.

 

He went on to say, "This will always be my first practice and you will always be my friends."

 

Mr Palmer's email was sent in reply to one sent by Mr Fong to the entire firm, to inform them of Mr Palmer's resignation. In that email, the managing partner called Mr Palmer "a sturdy fixture of our organisation for close to two decades".

 

"His unfailing courtesy and the high fidelity with which he performed his tasks both in this legal and his political office are a decided credit to our firm," Mr Fong's email said. "In saying farewell, it is with the hope that it will not be good bye but au revoir, and that he will come round to see us again once a while."

 

Mr Palmer joins a boutique firm with impressive credentials; Lawrence Quahe began his career with the Singapore Legal Service, serving as a judicial officer. During his years at HEP, he was involved in several high-profile cases, one of which was the Singapore Airlines (SIA) suit against the family of its former clerk Teo Cheng Kiat - who had embezzled $35 million from the airline - in which he represented SIA.

 

After leaving HEP, Mr Quahe made his name being involved in numerous international transactions across various jurisdictions.

 

His co-founder Christopher Woo is known for his work in intellectual property law and tax matters, among others, and has been recommended in the area of intellectual property by AsiaLaw Profiles.

 

 

 

 

[TVT]

  On 4/4/2013 at 2:46 AM, Enye said:

discreetly phased out?

What about Laura Ong ?

[Hamburger]

nowadays who cares about mango man....

 

errrr.... where's the kitty

[Wyfitms]

  On 4/4/2013 at 2:51 AM, TVT said:

What about Laura Ong ?

 

think she may join palmer as the secretary

[Tarzan666]

Yea..MP is already very rich..dun nd work liao..

 

the ger more cialat...

[Enye]

  On 4/4/2013 at 2:51 AM, TVT said:

What about Laura Ong ?

 

 

err...big shot lawyers need

 

secretary or PA right?

 

[1fast1]

  On 4/4/2013 at 2:54 AM, Wyfitms said:

think she may join palmer as the sexretary

 

Too easy.

[Viceroymenthol]

  On 4/4/2013 at 2:46 AM, Enye said:

Palmer leaves Harry Elias to explore fresh pastures

 

To milk new cows (calfs)?

[Wishcumstrue]

  On 4/4/2013 at 2:51 AM, TVT said:

What about Laura Ong ?

 

I heard she sold that Mobile phone

[Wishcumstrue]

  On 4/4/2013 at 2:52 AM, Hamburger said:

nowadays who cares about mango man....

 

errrr.... where's the kitty

 

 

Once an adulterer, always an adulterer. Why official media still shining good lights on this Palmface?

 

[Hamburger]

  On 4/4/2013 at 5:06 PM, Wishcumstrue said:

Once an adulterer, always an adulterer. Why official media still shining good lights on this Palmface?

Repent.......to show people he has Repented and moved on.

[Tianmo]

paper said she had to change her name and found work in some PA volunteers' company leh...............

Edited April 5, 2013 by Tianmo

[Celicar]

  On 4/4/2013 at 2:46 AM, Enye said:

Mr Palmer's email was sent in reply to one sent by Mr Fong to the entire firm, to inform them of Mr Palmer's resignation. In that email, the managing partner called Mr Palmer "a sturdy fixture of our organisation for close to two decades".

 

"His unfailing courtesy and the high fidelity with which he performed his tasks both in this legal and his political office are a decided credit to our firm," Mr Fong's email said. "In saying farewell, it is with the hope that it will not be good bye but au revoir, and that he will come round to see us again once a while."

 

Ho ho ho.

[Maseratigood]

  On 4/4/2013 at 5:05 PM, Wishcumstrue said:

I heard she sold that Mobile phone

To the curator of Adulters' Museum?

[Little_prince]

  On 4/5/2013 at 1:37 AM, Tianmo said:

paper said she had to change her name and found work in some PA volunteers' company leh...............

 

laura ong change to what? laurier ong?

[RadX]

  On 4/5/2013 at 8:41 AM, Little_prince said:

laura ong change to what? laurier ong?

 

 

Mango law [laugh]

[Tianmo]

  On 4/5/2013 at 8:41 AM, Little_prince said:

laura ong change to what? laurier ong?

 

 

maybe Ong Laura ................LO to OL also change mah............... [laugh]