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M AY, 191 o]
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
109
Obituary.
SIR SAMUEL BLACK, Solicitor, died on the
18th April, 1910, at his residence Glen Ebor,
Belfast.
Sir Samuel, who served his apprenticeship
with the late Mr. John Bates, Solicitor, Town
Clerk, Belfast, was admitted in Hilary Term,
1854, and practised in Belfast.
In 1871 he was appointed Town Solicitor
to the Corporation of Belfast, and in 1878 he
was appointed to the combined offices of
Town Solicitor and Town Clerk, which he
filled until last year, when he retired.
He was President of the Northern Law
Society from 1895 to 1897, and he was an
extraordinary member of the Council of the
Incorporated Law Society of Ireland from
1895 to 1904.
New Solicitor.
ADMISSIONS DURING APRIL, 1910.
JJu'iitr
Served Apprenticeship to
Girvin, William Harold
William J. Girvin, Killor-
g-lin.
Recent Decisions affecting Solicitors.
(Notes of decisions, whether in reported or
unreported cases, of interest to Solicitors, are
invited from Members.)
CIRCUIT CASE.
(Before Palles, C.B.)
Lifford, March
15, 1910.
Labourers (Ireland)
Act,
1906
Costs Local Government
-
Labourers Acts Labourers (Ir.) Order,
1909,
r.
55 (8)
and
(9)
Costs of owner or
lessee.
Thomas Elliott and Richard Magee
v.
Stran-
orlar Rural District Council.
A judicial tenant upon whose holding a
fair rent has been fixed under the Land Law
(Ir.) Acts is <in owner or lessee within the
meaning of r. 55 (8) of the Labourers (Ir.)
Order, 1909, and a solicitor acting on his
behalf may exercise his option under r. 55 (8)
and claim the fee payable for deducing title
to, and completing the transfer of, lands
taken under the Labourers (Ir.) Acts, without
taxation.
This was an appeal from a decision of the
County Court Judge dismissing the plaintiffs'
claim for £2 2s. for fees payable for deducing
title to lands taken under the Labourers
(Ir.) Acts and for completing transfer thereof
to the council. The plaintiff, Richard Magee,
was a judicial tenant by virtue of an order
of the Irish Land Commission fixing a fair
rent for the holding, portion of which the
Stranorlar Rural District Council
had
acquired for the purposes of the Labourers
(Ir.) Acts. The compensation awarded did
not exceed £60, and relying on the Labourers
(Ir.) Order, 1909, r. 55, his solicitor, Thomas
Elliott, claimed
£2
2s.
for
'the costs of
deducing title and completing the transfer of
the lands. The council refused to pay on the
grounds that a judicial tenant is only an
occupier, and not an owner or lessee, and is
therefore only entitled to a fee of 10s. 6d.
as and for the work done in respect of the
plot acquired under r. 55 (9). The present
action was instituted to have this question
determined. Rule 55 (8) and (9) provide as
follows :
(8) At the option of the so'.icitor acting on behalf
of an owner or lessee, the total fees payable for
deducing title to lands taken under the Acts, and
completing transfer thereof to the Council, may, with–
out any taxation as aforesaid, be in accordance with
the following scale:
Where the total purchase-money payable
to an owner or lessee in respect of lands
taken does not exceed £60
-
-
-£220
Where the same exceeds £'60 but does not
exceed £100
-
-
-
-
-
3
3
0
Where the same exceeds £100 but does
not exceed £200
-
-
-
-
-440
And beyond £200 at the rate of two per
cent, for every additional £100 or part
thereof up to and including £1,000,
And beyond £1,000 at the rate of one per
cent, for every additional £100 or part
thereof.
(9) Where, on the application of a council or their
solicitor, a short abstract or declaration of title is
furnished on behalf of the occupier (other than the
owner or lessee) of land authorised to be acquired,
the council may pay to such occupier, without any
taxation, a sum not exceeding 10s. 6d. as a fee in
respect of the employment of such solicitor by him
for the purpose of making out and furnishing such
abstract or declaration.
Babington,
for plaintiffs. The Lands
Clauses Acts
are
incorporated
in
the
Labourers Code by s. 16 of the Labourers
(Ir.) Act, 1883, and defined by s. 21 of the
same Act, to include the Railways Act (Ir.),
1851.
Section 23 of the Interpretation Act,
1889, contains a similar provision.
The
Lands Clauses Acts
as
applied
to
the
Labourers Code are further amended by the
introduction of the Second Schedule of the