178 / 448
GAZETTE
JUNE 1996
the house, and all work concerning the
securitisation of the mortgage for the
princely sum of £ 2 9 5 to include
outlays and VAT. I understand that
this f ee is standard and applies
whatever the purchase price. In
addition, I note that s ome of our
c o l l e a g u es are charging a total £ 5 9 0
for an entire sale and purchase
transaction to include again all
mortgage work.
Wh i le there is no doubt but that f e es
for all legal work should be
c omp e t i t i v e ly priced, it wo u ld s e em to
me that this level of charges is nothing
short of ludicrous. Certainly wh en one
considers the amount of work d o ne in
a standard c o n v e y a n c i ng transaction
n ow, c o up l ed with the ever increasing
d ema nds of mortgagees, we as a
profession, should charge a reasonable
rate for the work to be done. I find it
very hard to accept that the present
l ow rate of f e es being charged by
s ome of our c o l l e a g u es are cost
e f f e c t i v e. Ev en if one was carrying
out a huge v o l ume of c o n v e y a n c i ng
work, the fact of the matter remains
that each individual c o n v e y a n ce
requires a certain amount of time and
effort, which should be reflected in
the price charged.
My impression is that the Law Society
is steering clear of making any
r e c omme nd a t i o ns to the profession
with regard to c o n v e y a n c i ng fees. My
understanding is that this is due to the
provisions of the Comp e t i t i on Act.
Wh i le I appreciate that there should be
c omp e t i t i on in every market including
the market for legal services, I also
feel that it is incumbent on the Law
S o c i e ty in its regulatory role, to assure
that the concerns of the majority of its
memb e rs (and I b e l i e ve that I
represent the majority v i e w) are
represented. I further b e l i e ve that it is
incumbent on the S o c i e ty to insure
that its memb e rs operate at a realistic
level of costing. The other profession
i n v o l v ed directly in c o n v e y a n c i ng
transactions namely the Auctioneers
and Valuers profession s e ems to have
managed adequately to preserve their
costing charges over the years so why
can't w e ?
Yours sincerely,
Sean O'Brien
and
Company,
Solicitors,
The Stone
House,
Old Blessington
Rd.,
Tallaght,
Dublin
24.
n
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