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GAZETTE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1992
Correspondence
Mr. Noel Ryan,
Director General,
The Law Society.
Dear Mr. Ryan
Two years ago, the then president
of The Law Society, Mr. Ernest
Margetson, wrote in the
Gazette
that the Society was considering
bringing a constitutional action in
view of the escalating burden the
Comp e n s a t i on Fund was f or
solicitors.
Since 1988 the fee for a Practising
Certificate has risen from £545 . 00
to £976 . 00, almost double.
I have read much in the meantime
in the
Gazette
about many matters,
some while interesting have little
relevance to me, but little or nothing
about the Compensation Fund
contribution and I am quite sure
nothing about the constitutional
action.
That I should have to pay so much
money to practise as a solicitor
makes me angry and annoyed (and
I am sure I am not alone): angry
that I am getting so little for my
money; annoyed that the Society
wh i ch represents solicitors seems
to be unwilling or unable to do
anything to reduce this burden and,
if it is, I do not know what is being
done as I am not being kept
informed. There is some merit in
taking an action and failing but
there is no merit in being subjected
to the ever increasing tyranny of
the Compensation Fund contribu-
tion and doing nothing.
The Law Society seems quite
content to make greater demands
on solicitors each year for the fees
for the Practising Certificate. The
Society does not even give details
to solicitors of how the figures for
t he Practising Ce r t i f i ca te are
arrived at.
While solicitors are required to
4 0
maintain this fund, financial ad-
visers of every description operate
w i t hout any such obligation and
sw i n d le
t he ir
c l i en ts
w i t h
i nc r eas i ng r egu l a r i t y. In t he
meantime, solicitors are lambasted
in the media: witness the recent
article in
The Sunday
Independent
(I did read your letter in reply).
The Law Society seems to place a
ve ry l ow p r em i um on Public
Relations generally. It is not making
the case demonstrating the in-
justice of the Compensation Fund
as at present constituted. In the
area of conveyancing, legislation is
ballooning out of control w i th the
result that it is farcical now the
amount of enquiries a solicitor has
t o
make
in
r es i den t i al
conveyancing, but all the public
perception is of the final fee at the
end of a solicitor's bill. I understand
an upcoming programme on
Look-
Here
on RTE TV will deal w i th
solicitors. This is an opportunity to
put s ome of t h e se
g l a r i ng
misconceptions to right.
It seems to me t h a t many
inaccurate, misleading and biased
remarks affecting solicitors in the
media go unchallenged wh i ch
should not be the case. Some
weeks ago
Shane Kenny
on the
News At One stated that con-
veyancing was relatively simple. I
rang the Law Society that day and
suggested that he be contacted
and invited to Blackhall Place
where a conveyancing solicitor
could give him a full briefing on the
subject. In similar instances in
future an approach such as this
could be adopted and the solicitor
could then go back on air w i th the
broadcaster concerned and the
broadcaster could give an account
of what he or she had learned.
A leaf could usefully be taken out
of Margaret Thatcher's book who,
according to a recent article in
The
Sunday Times,
listened every day
to the Today programme on Radio
4 and on occasion rang in to
c omme nt on ma t t e rs on t he
programme. But you do not have to
cross the water. The IFA and other
farmers' organisations use every
area of the media to full advantage
to put their case across on an
almost daily basis and when they
receive adverse criticism on air they
are regularly back w i th their reply
before the programme is finished.
The Law Society could do well to
follow their approach.
The Law Society could regularly
give u p - t o - d a te b r i e f i ngs to
journalists on matters affecting
solicitors. The more responsible
ones then might be better informed
and give a more balanced and
favourable view of the profession to
the public.
The Reg i s t r a t i on Fee is n ow
£431.00 wh i ch is not far off what
the entire fee for the Practising
Certificate was three years ago. I
am at a loss as to why this figure
should be so high. It has risen
almost 5 0% in three years.
Reading the Annual Report does
not give me much in the line of an
answer. It seems to me to be far
higher than what other professions
have to pay. Why are administration
costs so high and what is being
done to keep them in check? I
would be interested to know how
the Registration fee compares w i th
our colleagues in other juris-
dictions. Perhaps an article in the
Gazette
or a circular could be
devoted to this topic wh i ch would
also help r e l a t i ons
b e t we en
solicitors and the Society.
In the May 1985
Gazette
an article
appeared by a midland firm whose
solicitors used their own word
processors to reduce costs. They
had a ratio of one secretary to four
fee earners. This seems to me to be
what cost cutting is about.
Yours faithfully,
Michael
Moore
Michael Moore & Co., Solicitors