199 / 266
Preliminary. September
7th
and 8th.
• August 17th.
First and
September
24th
Second Irish.
and 25th.
September 3rd.
BUILDERS’ ADVERTISEMENTS.
T
he
Council have on several occasions considered
the form of advertisements for the sale o f new houses
published by some builders containing references to
solicitors’ costs. There are a number of variants, some
of which while not referring to the solicitors’ costs are
intended to convey to potential lessees or purchasers
that there will be no need to seek independent
advice as this service will be given by the lessors’
solicitors. In the view o f the Council, these references
are open to objection in the interests both o f the
public and o f the profession. It is misleading to
suggest that the lessor’s solicitor will protect the
interests o f the lessee or purchaser free o f charge,
as in many cases there may be a conflict o f interest
either in regard to the title to be deduced or the
covenants in the lease, or both. Furthermore, the
publication o f such advertisements is a direct
inducement to the public to seek the services o f a
particular solicitor, which, if the solicitor were a
party to it, might amount to a disciplinary offence.
Representations have been made to the builders’
organisations that advertisements published by their
members should not contain any reference to
solicitors’ costs. The Council have not succeeded
in securing a firm observance o f this proposal,
one reason presumably being that there are a
number of builders who are not members o f any
organisation. Several cases have been brought to
the notice o f the Society in which members have,
the Council feel inadvertently, been associated with
such references. For the guidance o f members, the
Council have decided to publish their considered
view that it is unprofessional for a solicitor acting
for a lessor or builder to act also for the purchaser
or lessee if the advertisements published can reason
ably be regarded as suggesting that the purchaser
or lessee should retain the lessor’s or builder’s
solicitor. It is also unprofessional for a solicitor
acting for a lessor or builder to permit a client to
use his name in any advertisement which contains
a reference to costs. The Council further consider
that where an advertisement which is objectionable
for any o f the above reasons is published by a
lessor or builder, it is the duty o f the solicitor
acting for either on becoming aware o f the adver
tisement to request that it should be discontinued
or corrected, and to intimate that he will be obliged
to refuse to act unless this is done.
COSTS OF RENEWAL LEASES
UNDER PART III OF THE LAND
LORD AND TENANT ACT, 1 9 3 1 .
T
he
Council understand that the Taxing Masters
have decided that in general, a renewal o f a lease
made pursuant to Part III o f the Landlord and
Tenant Act, 1931, is a lease at less than a rack rent,
and accordingly, where the lease is a long lease,
that the scale o f costs applicable is the higher scale
under Part II, Schedule 1, S.R.G.O. 1884, as sub
sequently amended. The Council are o f the opinion
that solicitors' should normally charge the higher
scale in such cases, unless the rent charged in the
renewal lease can clearly be shown to be a rack rent.
It is, however, realised that in the case o f a large
rent, the higher scale of costs may be out o f propor
tion, and therefore, in the case o f a large rent, or
where there are other special circumstances, the
Council will not consider that the solicitor is under
cutting if he elects to charge on the scale applicable
to a lease at a rack rent.
SOLICITORS’ BILL, 1954 .
O
n
July 7th, the Solicitors’ Bill, 1954, was intro
duced in Dail Eireann and received its first reading.
It was announced that the second stage o f the Bill
would be taken on October 27th.
ASSISTANT SOLICITORS. OBLIGA
TION TO TAKE OUT PRACTISING
CERTIFICATES.
T
he
attention o f assistant solicitors and their
employers is drawn to the provisions o f section 43
o f the Stamp Act, 1891, which provides that every
person who directly or indirectly acts or practises as a
solicitor in any Court, without having in force at the
time a duly stamped certificate, contravenes the
section and incurs the monetary penalty provided in
section 43 (1). The section provides that such person
shall be incapable of maintaining an action for the
recovery o f any fee, reward or disbursement in
relation to any act or proceeding done or taken by
him in such capacity. The Council take the view
that while it is unnecessary for an assistant solicitor
to take out a Registrar’s certificate as long as he is
employed merely in an office capacity, a certificate
is necessary if he appears in Court as an advocate
either for a client of his own, or for a client o f the
solicitor by whom he is employed. An assistant
solicitor who practises in Court without taking out
a practising certificate in contravention o f the terms
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