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GAZETTE
MAY-JUNE
not give them the faintest idea of what is happening in
their case. Before they eventually dismiss you, they will
probably take to ringing you up once or twice a day — or
at least several times a week —all of which you richly
deserve. Even if you do, by some stroke of genius or luck,
succeed in getting the case back on to the rails, if you
have any sense of shame for the way in which the client is
being treated you will either have to take nominal costs,
or probably at best, half of what you would have been
entitled to be paid if you had given the client and his case
the care, attention, common manners and expertise which
he and your profession deserve.
Do not be ashamed to say to a client "You have no
case". Many of our profession have found themselves in
serious trouble because they waffled or they had not the
heart to tell a client exactly that. They spoke about trying
to get him something, and, of course, you may take it that
the solicitor went home that night thinking that he had
done his good deed for the day, and the client left the
office under the delusion that he had the best case in
the world. If a client comes to you, and you take on his
case, unless you spell out to him that it is highly
speculative and you follow this up by recording your
conversation in a letter, he will invariably consider,
because you have taken on his case, that he has a case.
Matters then drift, and eventually the file becomes a black
spot on your horizon. Nothing is done. Time runs out and
the next thing is that there is an action against you for
negligence, not because the client failed to get his
damages but because you failed to issue the proceedings
within the statutory time. The question now of whether
the client has or has not a case is very much of academic
interest.
Do not blame other solicitors, the Bar, civil servants, or
anybody else, for delays. Quite frankly the client is not
interested in a litany of complaints concerning your
colleague's failure to answer a telephone call or letter —
no matter how justified. He probably does not respect you
for talking about your colleague in this way. All the client
is interested in is that his work is done as fast as possible.
The way to be on top of your case is to keep your client
fully informed, and it is so simple to do this by instructing
your secretary to do a second carbon of any letter of
reminder that you are sending to a colleague, die Bar, or
anyone else, and then to send this out to the client under a
"With Compliments" slip. Not alone does the client see
that you are pressing his case but is also appreciative of
the fact that you are communicating with him. This
enables him to answer any direct approaches should he
receive them from the other side, and it also keeps him
from contacting you unnecessarily on the telephone or
by calling in to enquire what is happening. The small
additional cost of postage involved would be gladly met
by any normal client. This is also an added safeguard to
the profession because it gives the lie to the all too
frequently used catch cry that solicitors are slow. If a
client receives copies of three or four reminders to a
Government department, pleading with them to attend to
a case, he cannot blame you for the delay.
Never be afraid to say to a client'T don't know". If you
did know the answer to every legal problem without
having to refer to the statutes or reference books, you
wouldn't be advising that client — because he couldn't
afford the fees which you would command. Tell the client
that there are some matters which you have to check out
If the problem is a very complicated one, advise him to
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permit you to take counsel's opinion, and suggest to him
that he contacts you at a date in the future, which, of
course, will bear relationship to the urgency of the matter
involved Incidentally, if a matter is urgent it is no harm
to suggest to a client that he should put you in funds —
certainly to the extent of the counsel's fee involved —
because counsel, like everybody else, should deal with the
work more promptly if they know that they will be paid
by return.
If you find you have given wrong advice, and believe
me you will find this, you should, as a matter of urgency,
telephone your client and put him right. He is not going to
think any the worse of you because you admit that you
were wrong. However, do not make a habit of it.
If you are asked to take over a case from a colleague,
suggest to the client in the first instance that it could prove
quicker and less costly in the long run, if he would go to
the solicitor and offer to pay him for work done in return
for his papers. If this is not possible, rather than sending a
client's authority to hand over the case in the first
instance, contact your colleague, tell him that you have
been asked to act, and ask him to facilitate you. If you
find that you can get nowhere with your colleague then,
of course, you must get your client's written authority,
and your client's previous solicitor is then obliged to hand
over all papers to enable you to look after your client's
work without a delay factor arising as a result of the
change. In turn, you must obtain your client's irrevocable
authority to undertake to pay his ex-solicitor his
reasonable costs, or to be taxed in default of agreement.
Over the years it has happened that clients have suffered
through the unnecessary delay of some solicitors in
handing over papers, and some of these cases are
eventually referred to one of the statutory Committees of
the Law Society, who, before taking any action, must
obtain the comment of the client's former solicitor. All this
makes for delay and if a client's former solicitor is being
unreasonable in refusing to hand over papers, whilst the
matter may have to be reported to the Law Society
ultimately, the best service that you can give your client
is to issue a Petition in the High Court under the
Attorneys and Solicitors (Ireland) Act 1849 seeking an
Order directing the solicitor to hand over your client's
papers. Unless there is considerable justification for your
client's former solicitor's attitude, invariably you will find
that the papers will be handed over without further delay.
Even though your client's former solicitor may have put
you and your client to a lot of trouble, if you succeed in
getting the papers I suggest that you waive the profit costs
involved in such High Court application.
Professional Indemnity Insurance:
There are now about 1,800 solicitors practising within
this jurisdiction, and roughly less than 600 of these are
covered by insurance for professional negligence. In these
days, where farming land and residential house property
are worth more than ever before, it is horrifying to think
that roughly two out of every three of our colleagues are
un-insured, which means that any one of them could be
destroyed overnight by a simple mistake.
The Incorporated Law Society have established a
scheme for professional indemnity insurance through
their brokers —Minet Limited of 27 Upper Fitzwilliam
Street, Dublin 2 — and the amount of premium will
depend upon the cover which is required, the number
employed in the solicitor's office and the solicitor's claims