403 / 736
charge the sum of £3 for registering the lease if
he carries out this work.
In opinion C 18 printed at page 217 of the
1968 Handbook the Council authorised agree
ments between solicitors acting for local authori
ties in schemes of this nature to charge a reduced
scale fee of 1£% on the amount of the fine or
purchase money whether payable in a lump sum
or by instalments subject to a minimum fee of
£10 to include all the work of the solicitor for
the local authority. Solicitors acting for the tenant
purchasers were authorised to charge on the same
basis. There is an additional fee of 2gns. where
there is a separate mortgage or collateral security.
Rule 2 of the Solicitors Remuneration General
Orders, Schedule 1, Part 2, provides that where
the solicitor acts for the lessor and lessee he is
entitled to one set of charges only. The Council
however stated that if the solicitor for the lessor
is required to act for the lessee then he would be
entitled to a reasonable additional sum for so
acting providing that the total charge would not
exceed the amount of the legally permitted fees
under the Solicitors Remuneration General Orders.
The lessor cannot impose liability for all or part
of his costs on the lessee.
PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY
INSURANCE
Within the past few weeks details were announced
of a group insurance scheme against liability for
professional negligence for members of the Society.
Messrs. Coyle & Co.
(Insurance) Limited, 7
Anglesea Street, Dublin 2 have been retained as
insurance consultants by
the Society and will
administer the scheme as agents for the Society
through Irish Underwriting Agencies. The
in
surance will be effected with Federated Employers
Insurance Association Ltd. and the cover pro
vided and the premiums are, in the opinion of
the Council, very favourable to the profession.
There are two other advantages of the scheme,
scheme:
The Society will receive annually from Irish
Underwriting Agencies Ltd. a statement of the
premium income and losses experienced with the
causes of the losses concerned. The Society will
not of course have access to any information
identifying the offices concerned which will be a
private matter
between
Irish
Underwriting
Agencies Ltd. and the insured.
All policies will be renewable on a single date—
March 31st in each year with an apportionment
of the premium where a member joins for the
first
time on an
intermediate date giving the
Society the advantage of a disposable block of
insurance policies renewable together.
To ensure the strength and efficiency of the
scheme it is essential that it should receive strong
and widespread support from members of the
Society.
The policy
includes
cover
for defamation,
employer's liability and certain other risks in
cidental to a solicitor's practice.
STANDARD PERSONAL UNDERTAKING
The Council have decided to publish for mem
bers' use the standard form of personal under
taking printed below. It is recommended
that
members of the Society should adopt this form
both when giving undertakings or accepting them
from others. Although consideration for an under
taking may support a civil action on it, considera
tion is not in the view of the Council necessary
to bind a solicitor professionally to his obligations
in the undertaking. A solicitor is always bound by
a personal undertaking whether given
in
the
undermentioned or any other form. A solicitor to
whom an undertaking is offered may ask that it
should be in this form which has been approved
by the Council.
Solicitors wishing to use the Society's standard
form of personal undertaking may incorporate it
by reference and a letter from a solicitor under
taking to do certain things "in accordance with
the Law Society's standard personal undertaking
printed in the Society's Handbook" will be deemed
to incorporate all the following terms.
PERSONAL UNDERTAKING
Title of matter
.................
We/I
Solicitor(s)
personally undertake with
of
hereby
of
1.
2.
3.
Solicitor(s) as follows:
The parties understand that.
(a)
it
is
advisable
to obtain
the client's
written authority before giving an under
taking but the solicitor giving the under
taking will be personally bound whether
or not the client's authority has been
117