The Gazette 1949-1952

amount to

£ X

inclusive o f stamp duty.” There

are other possible variations o f these references

to the costs.

The Council deprecate such references to costs

in advertisements for the sale o f house property

on the ground that they tend to convey to a

prospective purchaser the impression that the

services o f the vendor’s solicitor are at his disposal

without any additional charge, and that it is un

necessary to retain his own solicitor. Advertisements

o f this kind inserted by solicitors can reasonably

be regarded as calculated to attract business unfairly,

and, as such, are a breach o f professional etiquette.

As a general rule, references to costs in advertise

ments for the sale o f property are unnecessary

and are to be deprecated. There is one exception

to this, namely, in the case o f a sale by way o f sub

lease reserving a fine.

In such cases it is

recommended that the contract should contain

a clause that the vendor and purchaser will pay

the costs o f their respective solicitors, and it is

permissible to include a statement to the same

effect in the advertisement.

The view o f the Council on this matter can be

briefly summarised as follows :

(1) It is in the interests both o f the public and

o f the profession that practices which tend

to induce purchasers not to be separately

represented should be avoided.

(2) The imposition on a prospective lessee-

purchaser o f liability for the lessor’s costs

o f showing title and preparing the lease

is such a practice to be avoided, as the

expense o f two sets o f costs is more than

most purchasers are prepared to pay.

(3) Reference to the costs in an advertisement

(other than a statement in the case o f a sale

by way o f lease that each party will pay

the costs o f his own solicitor) is such a

practice to be avoided as it tends to attract

the prospective purchaser to the vendor’s

solicitor.

LEGAL AID

Assignments in murder cases

10th December, 1948, the Attorney General

received a deputation from the Council on the

subject o f the inadequacy o f the present allowances

to solicitors who are assigned to defend murder

eases. The deputation urged that, in fixing the

allowances made to solicitors, the matter should

.be dealt with in the following w a y :—

(a)

All proper disbursements, including the

solicitor s travelling and subsistence expenses,

should be paid in full subject to vouching.*

(b)

The solicitor should receive a reasonable

instructions fee from the State, which would

enable him to undertake the defence without

incurring a financial loss due to absence from

his office and, having regard to the overhead

expenses o f running a solicitor’s office, which

are at least 50 per cent, o f his gross earned

costs.

It was pointed out that the present allowances

to solicitors are altogether inadequate, and it was

suggested that in fixing the amount o f the fee,

regard should be had to the amount o f work done,

and responsibility involved in the case.

The deputation also suggested that the rule

whereby a country solicitor is required to attend

personally in Dublin for the purpose o f applying

for the assignment should be abolished and that

it should be sufficient if the town agent attends

for that purpose with an authorisation in writing

from the county correspondent.

The Attorney General undertook to lay the views

o f the Society before the Minister for Finance,

and to communicate with the judges on the subject

o f the necessity o f the personal attendance o f country

solicitors to apply for the assignment.

The Society has recently received from the

Attorney General copy o f a minute from the

Department o f Finance stating that the Minister

for Finance is prepared to agree that, in future,

the solicitor assigned for the defence may be allowed,

in addition to the assignment fee o f 6 guineas,

and 3 guineas refreshers, travelling expenses to

and from Dublin, and subsistence allowance at

the rate appropriate to the highest grade o f civil

servants, if he is necessarily absent from home.

The rates o f subsistence allowances at present

in force are :—

1. 7 hours or more, but not more than 10

hours ...

...

2. 10 hours or more, not extending over

night

.....................................................

7/2.

3. Overnight absence up to 24 hours, and

any balance o f time not amounting

to 7 hours

........................................ 2 1

The effect o f the above authorisation is that

the assignment fee in the case of Dublin solicitors

will be 6 guineas with 3 guineas refreshers. The

same scale applies to country solicitors in addition

to travelling and subsistence allowances as set

out above.