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GAZETTE
APRIL/MAY 1996
The Editor
The
Gazette
Law S o c i e ty of Ireland,
Blackhall Place,
Dublin 7.
Cut Price Soliciting
De ar Ma d am,
T h e story is told and I b e l i e ve it to be
true - Me s s rs N i c e, Ne at and T i dy
h a ve a practice in a large provincial
t own. Mr. Ne at w a s a pp r o a c h ed by a
client w h o w as s e l l i ng a h o u s e. The
price £ 7 5 , 0 0 0, the qu e s t i on "what
will it c o st me to sell", the reply
" £ 8 5 0 ", the r e s p o n se "you must be
j o k i n g ". T h e c o l l e a g ue e x p l a i n ed all
the wo r k, i n v e s t i g a t i on of title and
p l a nn i n g, preparing contracts,
d e a l i ng with Re qu i s i t i o n s, searches,
c l o s i n g, p a y i ng o ff mo r t g a g e, F am i ly
H o m e Protection, c omp l i a n ce etc.
etc. T h e client w a s not imp r e s s e d.
A l r e a dy another c o l l e a g ue Mr. Smart
o f Me s s r s. Smart & A s s had qu o t ed
him £ 3 5 0 "all in". Our c o l l e a g ue
s u g g e s t ed that the client s h o u ld g o
back to Mr. Smart and i n f o rm h im
that Mr. N e a t 's quotation w as £ 2 5 0 .
The client c ame back to Mr. Ne at to
thank h im for the great f a v o ur d o ne
as Me s s r s. Smart & A s s had agreed
to reduce their charge to £ 1 5 0
"all in".
Ma ny c o l l e a g u es will h a ve had
similar e x p e r i e n c es wh e re
p r o f e s s i o n a ls feel o b l i g ed to cater to
a price rather than a standard.
Ten years a g o, b u s es with M a y o
registrations a s s emb l ed in B l a c kh a ll
P l a ce carrying o p p o n e n ts to
advertising. T h e v i ew taken by ma ny
practitioners at the t ime w a s that the
introduction of advertising in the
p r o f e s s i on w o u ld result in a l ow e r i ng
o f standards. A l t h o u gh the proposal
w a s s u c c e s s f u l ly o p p o s ed at that
stage, it w a s later introduced.
D o e s the tout "first c o n s u l t a t i on free"
h a ve any f o u n d a t i on in fact. In my
s u bm i s s i on it d o e s n ' t. It's a c h e ap
advertising p l oy not d e s e r v i ng of a
p r o f e s s i o n al w h o has r e c e i v ed years
of training in the veracity of his wo rd
either s p o k en or written. It is an
insincere, incorrect and m i s l e a d i ng
marketing ploy. We h a ve a l w a ys b e en
trained to act r e s p o n s i b ly and with
integrity towards our clients. Th is
tout is an a b omi n a t i on of our
training. To s u g g e st that e v e ry or
any first c o n s u l t a t i on is free is a
m i s n omer and an insult to the
i n t e l l i g e n ce of the public at large.
We h a ve never, nor will w e ever,
p r o v i de our s e r v i c es free. That is
not to say that there are not o c c a s i o ns
w h e n w e f o r e go our charges. Th is
is a prerogative of the p r o f e s s i on
and s hou ld not be used as a
marketing twist.
But to f o r e go our right to charge a
f e e wh i ch is fair is to u n d e rm i ne
o u r s e l v e s, our p r o f e s s i on and the
pub l ic at large. T h e practice of
i s s u i ng b e l o w - c o st qu o t a t i o ns in
s e l l i ng our s e r v i c es is a p e r n i c i o us
assault on our very e x i s t e n c e. It has
b e c o me an evil wh i ch is prevalent in
d ome s t ic c o n v e y a n c i ng at a t ime
w h e n that area of wo rk has b e c o me a
m i n e f i e l d.
On c e resorted to, b e l o w - c o st selling
o b s e r v es no base. The s e r v i ce is
dictated by price, the l ower the price
the l ow er the service. The e x p e r i e n ce
of our En g l i sh c o l l e a g u es is a
l e s s on to all of us. If there is no
price base, there is no standard base,
s o on there will be no p r o f e s s i o n al
base.
We h a ve b e c o me a p r o f e s s i on under
s i e g e, not f r om the public, but f r om
within. In d ome s t ic c o n v e y a n c i ng w e
h a ve a b a n d o n ed the right, the duty, to
strike a f e e wh i ch is e c o n om i c. T h o se
c ha r g i ng t h e se b e l o w - c o st f e es h a ve
no s e n se of responsibility to us. T h ey
are e a g er to help t h em s e l v es by
netting the catch. T h ey p o a ch for the
pu r p o se of gutting their c o l l e a g u es
and the public.
Our p r o f e s s i o n al skills and t ime are
worth s ome t h i n g. With the increasing
c omp l e x i t i es of the law I b e l i e ve they
are worth more than a c h e ap quote or
"first c o n s u l t a t i on free".
Yours sincerely,
John
Dillon-Leetch,
T. Dillon-Leetch
& Sons,
Ballyhaunis,
Co.
Mayo.
Obi tuaries
James Binchy
(admitted 1 9 4 5)
died 2 0 March 1996.
Susan Bowler Geraghty
(admitted
1 9 6 3) died 6 April 1996.
Joan Binchy
( w i fe of Past
President,
Don Binchy
and mother
of Co u n c il Memb e r,
Donald
Binchy)
died 7 April 1996.
Martin M. (Maxie)
Halley
(admitted 1 9 3 2) died 8 April
1 9 9 6.
Thomas K. O'Connor
(admitted
1 9 4 8) died 8 April 1 9 96 ( S e n i or
Ta x i ng Master to H i gh Court and
S u p r eme Court).
Barbara
Quigley
d i ed 12 April
1 9 96 (daughter of Mr. J. Caw l e y,
Solicitor, Dub l i n ).
Sol icitors
Confidential
Helpl ine
J U ST CALL
284 84 84
120