The Gazette 1971

at work level, instruction as to the legal rules which have to be observed or applied as an operating tool in the carrying out of business transactions. This instruc- tion is, however, strictly informative, and is, in the main, a diluted and abbreviated analysis of what is taught in greater depth to the professional lawyer as part of his vocational (as distinct from academic) training. Law is, however, only a tool of management. Few problems have a strictly legal aspect only. They embrace, in varying degree, legal, financial, technical, and human and ethical considerations. Law is a feature of business activity, not a compartment. In applying the law to a business problem the busi- nessman is reaching a business, not a legal decision. His objective, and therefore his overall skill, must be directed to a business result. Problems arise, however, as a complex of facts, and depend for their solution upon the right questions being asked. This is as true of the legal aspect of a problem as of any other. Bearing all this in mind, the part which the law and legal institutions play in the structure and development of society, the processes whereby law is produced by social, economic and moral forces and the origin and working of its institutions would seem to be a necessary adjunct to the intellectual equipment of every business executive. Whilst industry is no doubt primarily concerned with the development of production techniques and manage- ment skills and must, of necessity, concentrate upon scientific development, production engineering, market research and industrial psychology, nevertheless, one frequently finds it stressed in books on management and in management journals that efficient management also calls for an intellectual cultivation through which men can develop an imaginative comprehension of the whole sweep of economic, political and social life. Managers are warned against the trained incapacity of the narrow expert, that the specialist cannot function effectively at top level if all he brings with him is his speciality. It has been said that the humanities, whilst important to a man's soul, are good for profits also. It is remarkable, however, that whilst in recent years much consideration has been given to the training of management in the many spheres and at the various levels in which it operates, little or no thought appears to have been given to education or training in the legal field. Whereas training in management extends over every known aspect of business activity including some attention to the general principles of sociology and psychology, there is rarely a mention of the law as a component element in the decision-making process of business conduct. In business training, jurisprudence, the philosophy of law, has secured no recognition. Such research as has been done in this area emanates from the United States. A growing concern has been recently expressed in the United Kingdom but the problem has not yet received any attention in this country. To date, however, it is only at work level that any coherent or comprehensive proposals have been formulated. At the higher level of legal philosophy, the method and means still await articulation and speci- fication. Having regard to the rapidly changing dimen- sions of the law. a study is long overdue. Several practical tasks must, I think, be undertaken. First of all, the education of the lawyer himself requires up-dating in order to equip him to handle the technical and socio-economic data necessary for the solution of the legal problems of contemporary society. His training should be "problem-centred". Secondly, there should be channels of communication

between lawyers, business managers and specialists in other professions and disciplines whereby they can co- operate and integrate their respective functions and activities so as to make the best use of the available resources. The time is not far distant when multi-lateral and inter disciplinary relationships spreading across professional boundaries will have to be developed. Sociological, financial, economic, statistical, actuarial and technological factors all have their place in dealing with legal problems appertaining to : the protection of the environment, taxation, employment, industrial rela- tions, insurance, property development, consumer pro- tection, restrictive practices, company and corporation law, international transport and trade. Higher degrees of specialisation are called for in all areas and by all participants with a view to the elim- ination of unnecessary, inefficient and expensive overlap. The business manager, the lawyer and other specialists will have to acquire a deeper appreciation and capacity to make the fullest use of each other's speciality. MISCELLANEOUS LEGAL NEWS SOLICITOR'S PROFITS BY CONVEYANCING "EXCESSIVE" For the third time in three years, solicitors have been told by the Prices and Incomes Board that they are making excessive profits from conveyancing and that their fees for buying and selling houses should generally be cut substantially. In its third report on solicitors' pay, published yesterday, the board calls for a £6 million-a-year reduc- tion in the profession's earnings from conveyancing, with main cuts in fees for transferring unregistered houses, arranging mortgages and where one solicitor acts for both buyer and seller. It also repeats its earlier recommendations that soli- citors' scale charges should be treated as maxima rather than fixed charges, and that solicitors should be free to charge less if they find that a transaction took less work than they expected. Earlier calls by the Board for reduced fees for convey- ancing of middle-priced houses have been successfully fought off by the profession, although solicitors have been paid increases that the Board proposed for county court work and conveyances of lower-priced properties. Unless the Government puts strong pressure on the profession, which seems unlikely, the latest call for conveyancing fee cuts is expected also to go unheeded, especially as the Board itself, set up by the Labour Government, went out of existence at the end of last month. After carrying out a further time-and-cost survey of conveyancing work in solicitors' offices, the Board found that tne average costs of a conveyance, including the solicitor's average profit, was only 55 per cent of the scale-fee charge. Work done for sellers was generally more profitable than that done for buyers. Profitability increased sub- stantially with property values, although registered con- veyancing was not quite so remunerative as unregistered. For houses with unregistered title the board recom- mends cuts in the £4,000 to £20,000 price bracket ranging from 4 per cent at £5,000 to 16 per cent at £20,000. It would reduce the present fee for a £5,000 house from £67.50 to £65 and on a £10,000 house from £105 to £90. But increased fees for registered properties in the

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