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Bank. On application for a certificate of the balance
in the account for estate duty purposes, the Bank
will furnish a notice of withdrawal. That should be
signed by the personal representative, and forwarded
with the Probate, or Grant of Administration. A
warrant will then be issued by the Bank incorporat
ing the statutory form of discharge. When the dis
charge has been signed by the payee, and returned
to the Bank, a cheque will be issued.
The Association's form of draft letting agreement
is now available at a price of
if-
per copy from the
Honorary Treasurer, Mr. Rory O'Connor.
The next meeting was fixed for Wednesday, ist
April, 1959.
SETTLEMENTS OF HIGH COURT
ACTIONS
WHEN considering an application to have a settle
ment on behalf of a minor plaintiff made a rule of
the court recently, Mr. Justice Murnaghan was re
ported as having said that in future such settlements
must be for all in sums and should not be submitted
in such a way as to appropriate special amounts for
payment of medical and hospital expenses. It has in
the past been the practice of a number of solicitors
to provide in consents on the settlement of an action
that the hospital and medical expenses should be paid
to the solicitor acting for the plaintiff on his under
taking to discharge these expenses. This was done
by virtue of the provisions of the Road Traffic Acts
giving hospitals certain rights against the defendant
if the liability is not paid by the injured party. The
effect of the new practice laid down by Mr. Justice
Murnaghan is that the settlement should provide for
an all-in sum to cover general and special damages
and the Judge will decide on making the settlement
a rule of court what amount, if any, is to be paid
to the hospital and the medical practitioners, having
regard to all-the circumstances including the pro
visions of the Health Act.
The ruling has no
application to costs.
SOLICITOR AND CLIENT COSTS IN
CIRCUIT COURT MATTERS
THE Council have from time to time been asked for
guidance by members on the appropriate scale of
solicitor and own client costs in Circuit Court pro
ceedings. In order XL, rule 28 of the Circuit Court
Rules 1932, it was provided that the solicitor and
own client scale of costs in Circuit Court matters
should be the same as the party and party costs in
one particular case, viz, where the amount sued for
or recovered exceeded £100, the appropriate scale
of costs being High Court less one third. There was
no similar provision in the Circuit Court Rules 1950
or 1954, which are silent on the question of the ap
propriate scale in such cases. Counsel to whom a
case was submitted for advice expressed the opinion
that the absence of a scale of costs does not deprive
the Taxing Masters of jurisdiction and that in the
circumstances their duty is to tax reasonably.
Following the alteration in the jurisdiction of the
Circuit Court the Circuit Court Rules 1954 prescribed
new party and party scales, viz, (i) the fixed scale
in part i, section
(c)
in the third schedule where the
amount involved does not exceed £100 ;
(2) the
High Court party and party scale for the time being
less one third where the amount involved exceeds
£100 but does not exceed £300 ;
(3) The High Court
scale for the time being less one fifth where the
amount involved exceeds £300 but does not exceed
£600.
Counsel took the view that the Taxing Masters
in the absence of a scale of costs to help them in
fixing reasonable charges should look at all the cir
cumstances of the case including the various scales
of costs as between party and party, having regard
to the express statutory provisions in the rules of
1932, which in effect took the highest scale of costs
as between party and party as the proper scale where
the costs are to be taxed as between solicitor and client.
It is understood that the current practice in the
Taxing Masters, office is as follows. The Taxing
Masters in taxing bills of cost as between solicitor
and client will act reasonably. Generally they will
allow solicitors more than the party and party costs
set out in the Circuit Court Rules. They will not
necessarily allow costs on the High Court scale less
one third or less one fifth.
In particular cases they
may tax on such a basis but each matter will depend
on its own facts and circumstances. On a taxation
of costs as between solicitor and client in a Circuit
Court matter it might be objected on behalf of the
client that the solicitor in claiming say £600 damages
when he should have claimed only £200 or £300
should be entitled to tax his costs only on the basis
of a claim for the smaller amount if he had not ex
plained to the client that he might incur additional
liability for costs by claiming the larger amount in
the Civil Bill. In such a case the solicitor might be
expected to satisfy the Taxing Master that he is en
titled to tax on the basis of a claim for £600. This
difficulty will not of course arise in the defence of a
civil bill for £600 as the defendant's solicitor has no
option in the matter.
DECISIONS OF PROFESSIONAL
INTEREST
Certain business done bj a liquidator, under a winding-up
order of the Court, is " non-contentious" business and
should be taxed accordingly.
In October, 1956, the liquidator of a company,
which was being wound-up under an order of the
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