The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

P R E S

I D E N

T ' S

M E S S A G E

Sol ici tors (Amendmen t) Bi l l, 1 9 94

W H

APRIL 1994

The Solicitors (Amendment) Bill,

1994 was presented to Dail Eireann by

the Minister for Justice on 8 February

1994. It is substantially similar to the

1991 Bill, which lapsed on the

dissolution of the Dail in November

1992. The Bill contains a number of

substantial amendments to the

Solicitors Act, 1954 and to the

Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1960,

as well as some entirely new

provisions.

You will have received my circular

letter of 10 February 1994 which

highlighted the substantive changes to

the 1991 text and the provisions to

which the Society had objected, as

follows:

1. New Provisions in 1994 Bill:

(a) Compensation Fund - the

provisions of a £250,000 'cap' on

claims;

(b) education - the extending of the

enabling provisions in relation to

the professional education/

training of apprentices, solicitors

and other persons;

the maximum period to two years;

(d) charges to clients - the

prohibition of the charging of fees

measured as a percentage or

proportion of the damages

recovered, except in debt

collection.

2. Provisions objected to by

Society:

(a) conveyancing/probate services by

banks, etc. - these provisions are

now likely to be dropped from the

Bill by the Minister at Committee

Stage;

(b) fee advertising - the Society

would not be entitled to "prohibit

the advertising of any charge or

fee by a solicitor for the provision

of any specified legal service";

Michael V. O'Mahony, President, Law

Society

that the Society would have to

fund the Independent Adjudicator

- the "Ombudsman" who would

investigate complaints concerning

the way in which the Society had

handled complaints about

solicitors from members of

the public.

The 1994 Bill as now presented

contains 83 sections - the majority of

which extend or elaborate on the

regulatory powers of the Society. The

extended regulatory provisions should

be generally acceptable to the

profession, as the need for their

application would only arise in the

relatively small number of cases

where the conduct of a solicitor in one

way or another fell below the high

professional standards which clients

are entitled to expect and to which the

vast majority of solicitors readily

conform.

The regulatory jurisdiction of the

Society will be extended by sections 8

and 9 of the Bill to the investigation

of complaints against solicitors of

inadequate services (i.e. legal services

"not of the quality that could be

reasonably be expected of . . . a

solicitor") and of the charging of

excessive fees. Any decision of the

Society to apply the sanctions

provided for in these sections would

be subject to the right of appeal to the

High Court and would be without

prejudice to the existing rights of

clients to issue proceedings for

alleged negligence or to seek taxation

of their costs.

'Transparency' is a word of the 1990s.

In the context of the Bill, it means

providing for regulatory procedures in

which both the public and the

profession as a whole have

confidence. Section 7 of the Bill will

enable the Society to appoint to

committees of the Council both lay

persons and solicitors who are not

members of the Council. Also, section

16 of the Bill will enable the President

of the High Court to appoint up to five

lay members to the Disciplinary

Tribunal (the former Disciplinary

Committee) in addition to up to ten

practising solicitors, so that one lay

member will sit as part of the quorum

of three in each division of that

Tribunal. In advance of these statutory

provisions the Society last year

appointed two lay 'observers' (

Frank

Bracken

and

Lenore Mrkwicka)

to the

Registrar's Committee, each of whom

will become full members when the

Bill is passed.

The Society's Solicitors Bill

Committee are now engaged in a

detailed examination of the provisions

of the Bill. I would invite you to read

the full text of the Bill and to submit

as soon as possible to the Society any

comments you wish to make. The

Second Stage of the Bill is likely to

commence in the Dail towards the end

of March, with the Committee Stage

then being taken by the new

permanent Dail Committee on

Legislation. The Bill is likely to pass

all stages of both Houses of the

Oireachtas before the end of

this year.

Michael V. O'Mahony

President