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Is this fair?
Charging more than the amount received on a suicide matter?
Just plain disgusting
A judge cut a lawyer's "excessive" bill to $34,000. He was previously found to have billed another client so much, it was "amount to overcharging". (PHOTO: Getty Images)
A lawyer previously found to have overcharged clients has again had his legal fees ruled excessive in a separate case, with the court sharply reducing the amount payable. Vijay Kumar Rai of Arbiters Inc Law Corporation had billed a client $108,225 for work done over seven months in 2023, before trial proceedings had begun.
After the client applied for the bills to be reviewed, District Judge Chiah Kok Khun reduced the amount to $34,000.
In a written judgment issued on 22 Dec, 2025, Judge Chiah referred to earlier findings by a High Court judge in the same dispute, which had already concluded that the fees claimed by Rai were excessive. Arbiters has since filed an appeal to the High Court against Judge Chiah’s decision.
The ruling follows a separate case decided in December 2024, in which the Appellate Division of the High Court found that Rai had overcharged a couple who hired him to pursue a negligence suit over the suicide of their 31-year-old son.
In that case, the couple discharged their lawyers and settled the claim on their own for $330,000. Arbiters subsequently sued them for unpaid legal fees of about $370,000, but the Appellate Division reduced the bill to $87,000.
The three-judge court said the costs claimed were "plainly excessive as to amount to overcharging". The Appellate Division referred Rai’s conduct to the Law Society of Singapore for a disciplinary investigation.
For more on the "excessive" billing, read here.
Charging more than the amount received on a suicide matter?
Just plain disgusting
Judge cuts lawyer’s 'plainly excessive' bill to $34,000
A judge cut a lawyer's "excessive" bill to $34,000. He was previously found to have billed another client so much, it was "amount to overcharging". (PHOTO: Getty Images)
A lawyer previously found to have overcharged clients has again had his legal fees ruled excessive in a separate case, with the court sharply reducing the amount payable. Vijay Kumar Rai of Arbiters Inc Law Corporation had billed a client $108,225 for work done over seven months in 2023, before trial proceedings had begun.
After the client applied for the bills to be reviewed, District Judge Chiah Kok Khun reduced the amount to $34,000.
In a written judgment issued on 22 Dec, 2025, Judge Chiah referred to earlier findings by a High Court judge in the same dispute, which had already concluded that the fees claimed by Rai were excessive. Arbiters has since filed an appeal to the High Court against Judge Chiah’s decision.
The ruling follows a separate case decided in December 2024, in which the Appellate Division of the High Court found that Rai had overcharged a couple who hired him to pursue a negligence suit over the suicide of their 31-year-old son.
In that case, the couple discharged their lawyers and settled the claim on their own for $330,000. Arbiters subsequently sued them for unpaid legal fees of about $370,000, but the Appellate Division reduced the bill to $87,000.
The three-judge court said the costs claimed were "plainly excessive as to amount to overcharging". The Appellate Division referred Rai’s conduct to the Law Society of Singapore for a disciplinary investigation.
For more on the "excessive" billing, read here.
