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Insurance Brokers Communicating Direct
with Client
On certain facts submitted by a member the
Council directed that a letter should be written to a
firm of insurance brokers protesting against their
action in authorising a representative to call on a
claimant against their insured with a view
to
negotiating a settlement in a case in which a solicitor
had already been instructed.
International publication: Signed article by
solicitor advertising
Members received a letter from an American
publishing company which is preparing an inter
national manual of commercial law. The publishers
propose to include an introductory article dealing
with the law in various countries in which the
manual will be circulated, and members were
invited to contribute an article on Ireland with
their names appearing in the heading of the article.
The publishers stated that in view of the wide
publication which would be given thereby to each
author and the fact that members would be recom
mended should any of the subscribers to the bureau
require an attorney in Ireland the article should be
written without charge. Members enquired whether
by so doing they would contravene any of the
Society's regulations.
The Council directed that
members should be informed that the contribution
of an article and the publication of members' names
on the terms suggested would be in contravention
of regulation 5 of the Solicitors Act, 1954 (Profes
sional Practice, Conduct and Discipline) Regulations,
1955, which makes it a professional offence for a
solicitor to do in connection with his practice
anything which can reasonably be regarded as
calculated unfairly to attract business.
Registry of Deeds
The Council have made representations to the
Department of Justice in favour of the introduction
of legislation modernising
the practice of the
registry of deeds. The suggested reforms include
the discontinuance of the use of parchment for
memorials.
This has already been done in Northern Ireland.
The Council propose to press this matter as far as
possible.
Legal Textbooks
An advertisement appears in this issue of the
Gazette inviting proposals from members of both
branches of the profession for the publication of
textbooks suitable for students.
The notice has
been sent to the Bar Library, the Court Offices,
and University Law Schools and the Council wish
to obtain the names of those who would be interested
in supplying the manuscript for suitable works
either alone or in collaboration. The Council will
consider proposals from Court officials for the
production of suitable manuals or textbooks on
practice. The field to be covered is stated in the
advertisement and the matter is still at the explanatory
stage. The Council intend to pursue it actively.
AS OTHERS SEE US
A number of members probably listened to a
recent broadcast discussion on Radio Eireann in
" Saturday Forum " on topic " The Cost of Con
veyancing ". For the benefit of those who did not,
the following summary is given.
The discussion
took place between a solicitor, a barrister and a
chartered accountant, all of whom were anonymous,
with a compere in the chair.
The solicitor who
opened the discussion, which was in the form of
questions by the compere and answers from the
participants, took as a typical case a sale of a house
in Dublin for £2,500. He said that the total cost
to the purchaser if the sale were by public auction
would be approximately £275, being 5% to the
auctioneer, 3% stamp duty and roughly, 3% to the
solicitor. On a sale by private treaty the solicitors'
fees and stamp duty would be approximately £150
and if a substantial part of the purchase price was
raised on the security of a mortgage from a Building
Society about £25 additional fees would be payable
in respect of the loan. He said that the revenue
returns show that about two million pounds is
collected annually in the form of stamp duty on the
transfer of property. The compere asked whether
the lawyers' fees are high in relation to the work
performed and it was pointed out by the barrister
member that the present commission scale fee is
about twice the commission fee fixed in 1880
whereas expenses have risen by about 500%. The
chartered accountant took the view that the lawyer's
fees are unduly high and that the stamp duties are
excessive especially in the case of small property.
He suggested a graduated scale of stamp duties and
pointed out that in England no stamp duty is
charged where property is sold for less than £3,000.
He went on to point out that on a sale by private
treaty the total legal fees on a sale for £2,500, would
amount to £150, being £75 to each solicitor and
asked why it is necessary to employ two solicitors.
It was pointed out in reply that a conflict of interest
may arise either in the preparation of the contract
for sale or in the deduction and investigation of title.
The barrister member of the panel expressed the
view that the fees charged by an auctioneer on a
sale by public auction are altogether out of pro
portion to the value of the services rendered and