311 / 736
and recover assets in Malaya, less than £200 in
value. The Malayan lawyers ultimately presented
a bill for about £700 in Irish currency which the
Dublin solicitors refused to pay. Both matters
were submitted to the Council for rulings.
The Society on a report from a committee stated
as follows:
1. As a matter of professional etiquette an Irish
solicitor who instructs a foreign agent is personally
responsible for that agent's proper fees unless he
expressly disclaims personal liability when giving
the instructions.
2. In the absence of stipulation to the contrary the
scale
is regulated by the rules in force in the
country where the work is done.
2. Where there is no procedure for taxation of
costs in the foreign country the matter might be
submitted to the local Law Society, first obtaining
the client's instructions, or alternatively the foreign
lawyer might be allowed to obtain a ruling from
the foreign courts. In such events the liability for
fees would be a matter of private international law,
and would presumably be regulated by the proper
law of the contract. The parties could consequently
be left to their legal remedies.
4. As a matter of professional etiquette disputes of
this kind should be settled if possible by agreement.
Conflict of interest.
A solicitor employed as an assistant in the office
of a State solicitor in the country enquired whether
he might appear for a defendant (a) where a
summons was issued by the Gardai for the area in
which the principal was State solicitor, (b) where
it was issued by the Gardai for other areas.
The Council having considered Opinion DR. 43
answered each question in the negative.
Community Information Centre.
The Council in reply to an enquiry stated that
there is no professional objection to a member
acting
on
the
committee
of
a Community
Information Centre which would provide informa
tion on such matters as social welfare and health
services,
educational grants and
scholarships,
local authority loans and grants and income tax.
Local authority; access to solicitor's
professional stationery.
The Council considered their opinion DR. 53
stating that they would not approve of an arrange
ment whereby a client should have access to a
solicitor's professional stationery for the purpose
of sending out debt collection letters even although
the
letters prepared by
the client would be
checked and signed by the solicitor before mailing.
The Council stated
that
the principle of this
decision applies to a wholetime solicitor for a local
authority or other public body.
IN
THE NEWS
Scale Fees
The Legal Profession in general and the Solicitors
Profession in particular have been receiving more
than their usual share of attention from the Press.
The mention of scale fees in the Third Programme
for Economic Expansion led to a series of articles
in all the National Dailies and Dublin Evening
Papers which varied from the well informed and
balanced articles in the Irish Times of 21st March,
1969 by Michael Viney and in the Irish Indepen
dent of the same date to the less well-informed
series which appeared in the Evening Herald by
the Man on the Bridge.
Our colleagues in Britain have also been receiv
ing more than their fair share of Press coverage of
which the following are some of the more interest
ing examples:
From the Times February 28th, 1969
SALE OF PROPERTY
Sir,—In Aberdeen, we seem to have anticipated some
of the conclusions of the report of the Monopolies
Commission on estate agents. In this city, the pu-chasc
and sale of properties is in the hands of solicitors rather
than estate agents.
In an effort to improve their efficiency, and to give a
better service to the public, 86 per cent of the solicitors
in Aberdeen joined in a cooperative venture to estab
lish in a converted shop in the centre of the city a
register of all properties which they had for sale or lease.
The purpose of the register is to advertise the proper
ties by listing full particulars in one central place—the
register does not attempt to sell the properties in any
way. The register is supported on an annual subscription
basis by the solicitor members. It was opened by the
President of the Law Society of Scotland on February
14. When it opened, it had 144 properties on its books
and in its first week of operation, 1,200 people called
to inspect the register. 32 properties advertised in the
register were sold or leased, and another 64 properties
were entered into the register. This was achieved with
a part-time staff of three ladies.
Yours faithfully,
MALACHE F.-B. MULLIGAN
Member Aberdeen Property Register
Committee.
12 Golden Square, Aberdeen, Feb. 26.
3i