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paid by them. The usual extensions are available upon
payment of additional premium.
There are no unusual conditions or exclusions attach-
ing to the group scheme policy. The Law Society
believes that placing the responsibility for minor claims
of under $A2,000 on members will assist to stabilise
premiums at rates well below those available on the
world market. T o date this has proved to be the case,
and each year there has been an increasing number of
N.S.W. solicitors joining the group scheme. Over 25 per
cent of the profession of solicitors in the state are now
members of the scheme. The present annual premium
income is well in excess of $A100,000. Although the
scheme is not compulsory it is strongly recommended by
the Law Society to its members, in the belief that it
works for the general good of the profession and will
benefit increasingly all participating members.
ACKNOWL EDGMENTS
Replies received too late for inclusion in the report
were sent by the following national correspondents :
Ireland
: The Incorporated Law Society of Ireland—
E. A. Plunkett.
Peru :
Colegio de Abogados—Javier Vargas.
S UMMA RY OF DISCUSSION
Chairman
P. Connolly, Esq. (Australia)
Rapporteur
C. Dunlop, Esq. (Australia)
Vice-Chairman
Y. Fraenkel, Esq. (Israel)
The session was very well attended and twenty-four
speakers commented on the report from the floor, repre-
senting twelve countries—namely, Australia, England,
France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Denmark,
Jamaica, Malta, Sweden, Switzerland and the United
States of America. The Chairman introduced the
Rapporteur and invited him to present his report.
Introducing the paper, the Rapporteur emphasised
that professional negligence was a matter of concern
not merely for individual lawyers but also for the pro-
fession as a whole and for the professional bodies. He
drew attention to the inadequacies of existing insur-
ance provisions and advocated the introduction of com-
pulsory professional indemnity insurance as a condition
of practice. He also forecast that law societies would
have to consider the ethical aspect of gross or habitual
negligence of their members and whether those faults
should be the subject of disciplinary action. He raised
the question of the barrister's liability for professional
negligence in countries where lawyers practised only as
barristers.
The issues raised by the speakers fell into four main
categories : (1) Was it considered proper that lawyers
should remain liable for their negligence without any
form of alleviation? (2) The nature of the barrister's
liability where he practised only as a barrister. (3) The
desirability of allowing practice by lawyers as limited
liability corporations. (4) What might be done to
improve the professional indemnity insurance available
to lawyers?
As to the first question some divergence of opinion
was shown, but it was generally agreed that any limi-
tation of the lawyer's liability for his negligence was
undesirable.
Speaking first on this subject, Mr. P. J. Griffiths, of
Hong Kong, referred to the very considerable sums
involved in some commercial transactions and said it
would be impossible to obtain an adequate insurance
cover against the contingency of some negligence occur-
ring in such cases except perhaps at a prohibitive
premium. He thought it reasonable to have some limit
to the liability of the lawyer in such cases.
Mr. D. G. Frank, Q.C., of the English Bar, in
expressing a similar view, referred to the large amounts
involved in some tax matters on which barristers were
called to advise in England.
Mr. K. Burke, of Jamaica, expressed dissatis-
faction with the standard applied to the lawyers'
profession in comparison with other professions. He
considered that a lawyer was likely to be held liable for
the slightest mistake which might fall short of negli-
gence by the standards applied in other professions.
Referring to this comment, Mr. Justice Hardy, of
Australia, said he considered that the law relating to
negligence of lawyers cried out for codification and
suggested that law societies should press for a more
definite statement.
REFERENCE
(19) Halsbury's
Laws of England,
third edition, vol. 22, p. 184.
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