SUSS Family Law Seminar Series:  Interdisciplinary Frameworks for Resolving Family Disputes

Synopsis

Already integrated within the Singapore family justice system are multi-disciplinary approaches that aim to offer a holistic view and management of a family’s issues. This seminar focuses on how the existing frameworks may be enhanced to support the administration of Therapeutic Justice, and how the legal and social service professionals may work ethically in an integrated manner to achieve therapeutic outcomes for the families in crisis. In doing so, the seminar also aims to discuss how family lawyers may better fulfil their professional obligations in representing clients in family proceedings under rules 15A and 15B of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015.

Our keynote speaker will present an overview of the current multi-disciplinary framework in the Singapore family justice system, highlighting its successes, limitations, and the evolving role it plays in family law. Following this, our panel of experts will examine opportunities to deepen inter-disciplinary collaboration in family dispute resolution and consider how social work constructs and the law may be optimised in achieving effective solutions to address family law issues.

The seminar will also discuss what lawyers should learn from the social sciences, allowing us to advance our professional role in representing clients in family proceedings. It will further inform us of practical tools to work optimally and ethically with the relevant social service professionals, to enhance the problem-solving process for the family in need. The seminar will also explore how lawyers may navigate the ethical tensions arising from the confidentiality obligations of lawyers and social service professionals.

2 Public MEC Points

Practice Area: Mandatory Ethics Component

Training Level: General

Course Fee: $98.10

Registration Deadline: 29 October 2025

Event ID: EV25000297

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Programme

Speaker

Mr Kenneth Yap joined the Singapore Legal Service in 2001.

Mr Yap read law at University College, Oxford, and received his Master of Laws from the University of Cambridge as well as at the Harvard University.

He was appointed to his current appointment as Registrar of the Family Justice Courts on 1 March 2019. Prior to this, he had served as a District Judge in the Criminal Justice Division of the State Courts, a Senior Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court and a Justice’s Law Clerk. He had also served in the Legal Branch of the Singapore Legal Service as the Chief Executive of ACRA, the Divisional Director of the Legal Services Division at the Ministry of Manpower, and as a Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Attorney-General’s Chambers. Mr Yap was also previously seconded to an Administrative Service post as the Deputy Director of the Workplace Policy and Strategy Division of the Ministry of Manpower.

Mr Yap also serves as a Member of the Appeal Board of the Commission of Foreign Manpower under the Ministry of Manpower.

Panellists

Ms Yarni Loi

Ms Nancy Ng completed her Masters in Social Work in Minnesota. While in USA, she worked with persons who experienced and perpetrated family violence, and with the Yup’ik Eskimo communities in Alaska.

Upon returning to Singapore, she joined MSF. She has since undertaken various appointments, such as the Chief Probation Officer, Director of Social Welfare, Director/Central Youth Guidance Office, and Director/Professional Practice and Development. Ms Ng is also a senior lecturer in the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

Having been in practice for over 20 years, Ms Wong maintains a niche focus on private wealth and family matters. Ms Wong’s family law clients comprise largely high net worth individuals with especial concerns over financial settlements, as well as cross-jurisdictional issues.

Ms Wong is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and is the current President of the Asia-Pacific Chapter. She is also a registered practitioner of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). She is an accredited Singapore Mediation Centre Mediator, including being on their family panel and their panel for Collaborative Family Practice. She is also a Certified Mediator with the Singapore International Meditation Institute (SIMI), a Senior Mediator with the Law Society Mediation Scheme, as well as a Mediator on the panel of Cross-Border Family Mediators of Mediation bei Internationalen Kindschaftskonflikten (MiKK), Germany, and on the Institut Français de Certification des Médiateurs. She is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb) and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). She is also the Executive Editor of the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies (SJLS), the flagship law journal of the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore. In addition to being the current Co-Chair of the Family Law Practice Committee of the Law Society of Singapore (LSS), she is also the current Co-Chairperson of the Family Law and Children’s Rights Working Group of the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL).

Moderator

Ms Edith Chen

Edith is a Lecturer at the School of Law, Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), and is part of the team at SUSS which teaches the Family Law courses. The Family Law courses taught at SUSS comprise the study of both substantive and procedural family law using an integrated approach and adopt as a core concept the philosophy of Therapeutic Justice.

Edith graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2009 where she was awarded the LexisNexis Family Law Prize in Academic Year 2007/2008. Admitted to the Singapore Bar in 2010, she joined Tan Rajah & Cheah and practised in family law litigation among other areas of law. Today, Edith continues to maintain a niche practice in family law as a Consultant with the firm. Edith is also an accredited mediator with the Singapore International Mediation Institute and an Associate mediator under the Law Society Mediation Scheme Panel.