The Gazette 1976

J U NE/J U LY

GAZETTE

1976

could be achieved with an extra few million pounds per year.

the trend has moved the other way. (The number of building society mortgages in 1975 was 651,000.) Also, house prices (and therefore fees) have, of course, been rising with inflation — according to the statistics maintained by the building societies the average house price went from £4,447 in 1968 to £12,144 in 1975.) The Prices and Incomes Board showed that the profession's income rose from £179m. in 1966" to £217m. in 1968 7 . If the 1966 is taken as the index at 100, the 1968 figure was 121. In the same period, average national wages and earnings only advanced from 100 to I I P . In other words, solicitors' earnings increased at a substantially faster rate than those of the community as a whole. This may or may not have continued during the intervening period, but it seems probable that at the very least the profession has more than held its ground. Conclusion In the writer's view, the balance of advantage is heavily in favour of legislation along the lines developed in the Commonwealth countries. It would be a matter for discussion what precise method should be adopted. The purposes of the fund should be widely drawn so as to permit the maximum of creative and imagina- tive application. The trustees should represent a variety of interests — including, of course, a strong lay element. The total amount generated by such a proposal must, at this stage, be a matter of guess-work. A 1975 Interfirm Comparison involving 30 firms of varying sizes from different parts of the country showed that non-fee income consisting largely of interest on client account represented a median of 5.5 per cent of gross income. It is impossible to translate this into a reliable estimate of what would be the figure for the profes- sion as a whole since there are no existing figures for the profession's current gross income, nor is it known what proportion of interest on client account is re- turned to clients. It is, however, possible to make some educated estimates. As has been seen, the PIB estimated the profession's gross revenue in 1966 to be £179m. and in 1968 to be £217m. Depending on which method of calculation is adopted, this would, today, be something between £430m. and £530m. 9 , with the higher figure probably being closer to the reality. Moreover, the profession has greatly expanded over the period — from about 23,000 practising certificates in 1966/7 to nearly 30,000 in 1974/5. This would have had a further tendency to increase gross revenue. An estimate of £500m. is likely to be conservative. If the Interfirm Comparison is representative in its figure of 5% of income being derived from client accounts, this would give a total of some £25m. The only indication of the amount retained by solicitors is in last year's decided case. In that case the firm, one of whose partners was a former President of the Law Society, himself a member of the Profes- sional Purposes Committee for 13 years, retained 70 per cent of the moneys in the account. If this were typical, the profession would be retaining some £17m. a year — an average of about £2,500 for each of the 7,000 or so firms in England and Wales. Even if the actual figures were substantially less, the stakes are obviously high enough to be worth pur- suing. A great many invaluable improvements in legal services, legal education, legal research and the like

1. The Legal Profession Ch. 14, .v. 109.) 2. The British Columbia

Amendment

Act 1972 (No. 2.

Legal Professions

(Amendment)

Act 1975, Ch. 15, s. 71. 3. The Law Society of Manitoba

Act, as amended in 1972.

s. 30, 2. 4. The New South Wales Legal Practitioners as amended in 1967 and 1970, s. 42. 5. The Law Society Act 1970 as amended

Act 1898-1970.

in 1973, .v.v. 23.

26, 51.

6. National

Board for Prices and Incomes,

Remuneration

of Solicitors, Cmnd. 3529, 1968. Table 2, p. 34 showed there to be 6,270 practices. Table 5, p. 37 showed the average gross revenue per firm was £26,645. The multiple of these two figures is £179m. 7. National Board for Prices and Incomes, Standing Refer- ence on the Remuneration of Solicitors, Cmnd. 4217, 1969. Table 2, p. 29 showed a total of 6,580 practices and Table 4. p. 31 showed the average gross revenue per firm to he £33,018. The multiple of these figures is £217 m. 8. General Statistical Office, Economic Trends, February 1976, p. 40. 9. If solicitors' revenues increased from 1968 to 1975 at the same rate as in 1966-68, the 1975 figure would be £430m. This is, however, improbable, since the income of solicitors, like that of other groups, will undoubtedly have been advanc- ing at an accelerating rate because of galloping inflation. Average national wages and earnings grew from 100 in 1966 to 111 in 1968 to 272 in 1975. (Economic Trends, op. cit.). If solicitors' incomes grew only at this rate the 1975 figure would be £488 m. But in reality, the rate of increase would probably have been higher. As has already been seen, solicitors' incomes grew from a base of 100 in 1966 to 121 in 1968. whilst national average wages and earnings were growing from 100 to 111. If solicitors' incomes grew at the same rate relative to all wages and earnings as between 1966 and 1968, the 1975 figure would be £530m. (Reprinted by kind permission of the author and of the Editor of the New Law Journal — 6 May 1976). F.L.A.C. Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC Dublin) would be pleased to hear from solicitors interested in attend- ing any of the FLAC centres. Those solicitors interested would become members of a panel attached to a centre and would be asked to attend at spacious intervals. Please contact FLAC, c / o Miss Muriel Lee, 6 Palmerstown Gdns., Rathmines, Dublin 6. Phone 978428. OBITUARY District Justice John Carr, died in April, 1976. Mr. Carr was admitted in Easter Term, 1939, and prac- tised mainly as Solicitor to Cork County Council. He was appointed a District Justice in 1961, first in Dublin City, and in 1970, in the Kildare and Wick- low areas, on the retirement of District Justice Michael Keane. Mr. John B. Lynch, died on 5th May, 1976. Mr. Lynch was admitted in Michaelmas Term, 1940, and prac- tised in Ennis, Co. Clare. Mr. James O'Hanrahan, died in January, 1976. Mr. O'Hanrahan was admitted in Michaelmas Term, 1930, and practised in Kilkenny.

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