258 / 336
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNCIL
27th March, 1975
Compulsory Purchase Order — Title by way of
Statutory Declaration
The client's title on a compulsory rule to a County
Council only required the solicitor to furnish a Sta-
tutory Declaration vouching the Title. In the circum-
stances, the solicitor concerned was entitled to charge
the scale under Section I of the Solicitors' Remuner-
ation Act 1881 as amended.
Interest on Deposits — General Instructions to
Secretariat
The Secretariat of the Society is to reply to such
queries as a rule as follows: —
a) Legally a solicitor who is a shareholder may not be
obliged to account for interest earned on the stock-
holding, (depending upon the terms of his appoint-
ment).
b) Professionally, the solicitor is under duty to place
clients money in a designated Client Account and
to comply with his client's instructions. So if a
client gives instruction to have money invested on
deposit, clearly a solicitor must be liable if he fails
to do so.
c) In the absence of any instructions from the client
and where there is a subsequent claim by the client
that the solicitor should have placed money on
deposit the Society's advice is as follows: —
i)
If the solicitor actually placed the money on
deposit he must account to his client for in-
terest earned.
ii) If, however, the solicitor did not place the money
on deposit, it is not a matter for the Society
whether he should have done so or not, it is
a question of a solicitor's legal duty to his client.
Thus it may depend entirely on the facts of
the case. In a clear case, it is hard to imagine
the High Court absolving a solicitor who fails
to place his client's money on deposit where a
long delay is indicated and a large sum of
money is held.
Solicitor Stakeholder
Such a solicitor, in disposing of the monies held in
his hand pending closing of a transaction, must place
the money on deposit with an authorised Bank rather
than a Merchant Bank, unless he had specific written
ruthority from both vendor and purchaser to deposit
i Nn a Merchant Bank.
Council approves examination results of Feb-
ruary, 1975, Examinations
Examination
1st Law
2nd Law
3rd Law
Candidates
167 '
121
63
Passed
Exemption
Failed
78
11
78
73
25
23
50
6
7
Law Clerks Joint Labour Committee
Mr. Bruce St. J. Blake has been appointed as the
Society's Representative on this Committee.
Irish Legal Terms Advisory Committee
Mr. Anthony O'hUadhaigh has been re-appointed
as the Society's representative on this Committee.
24th April, 1975
Interest of Vendor or Stakeholder
In a normal case, a Vendor or a stakeholder is en-
titled to interest unless there is an agreement to
the contrary.
No Liability on client to pay a Cost Accountant's
Fee
There is no liability on the client to pay a Costs
Accountant's fee for drawing a Bill of Costs on Tax-
ation. There may be costs allowed upon the Taxation
Bill on a per folio basis.
Solicitor's right to allow access to accountants
and auditors when preparing a Solicitor's Cer-
tificate under the Solicitors' Accounts Regulations
The contents of a client's file are in general privil-
eged, but there is no objection to the auditor being
allowed to see particular items having a direct bearing
on payments or receipts that were the subject of the
Auditor's Certificate under the Accounts Regulations.
Client withdraws authority to Bank to pay ad-
ditional monies
As the authority concerned was not an irrevocable
authority the client's solicitor was to follow the client's
instructions as to the client's monies in his hands.
Solicitor's authority to settle High Court action
A settlement was reached in a High Court action,
in which the plaintiff had been awarded £3,750 and
costs. Subsequently the plaintiff tried to repudiate the
settlement, but finally agreed to accept it subject
to non payment of doctors' fees. It was decided that if
the solicitor concerned had the requisite authority of
his client to settle the action on the terms mentioned,
he was entitled to do so. If the solicitor concerned
had no such authority, he would have to settle the
question at issue with his client.
Irish Examination Results—March Examinations
Examination
First Irish
Second Irish
Candidates
307
122
Passed
252
108
Failed
55
14
. 2 5 2