306 / 364
liis bank
in exchange
for a
receipt. This
is
subject
to variation
if costs are due and
the
solicitor wishes to preserve his
lien. Perhaps it
should not be applied to wills. If wills are re
tained they should be promptly registered and
kept in a fire-proof safe.
16.
Costing System: In small cases the oper
ator should assess the costs and include the out
lay immediately on completion, mark it on the
file and arrange to send a memo to the client
at
the expiration of an arranged
time. This
should be settled by the principals and adopted
as a normal practice-subject to variation for any
exceptional reason.
A costs book should be kept.
There are standard books for this purpose. In
the costs book
is entered
the name of client,
title and file number of each case, with spaces for
date received;
date of completion;
date file sent for costing;
amounts of costs and outlay separately;
date furnished;
date paid;
name of operator.
An effort should be1
made to keep records of time
of principals or assistants spent on each case and
this might be recorded daily in the files. If a
solicitor works 1300 hours in a year he must
earn about £2600 gross professional fees to net
£1,300 p.a. on basis of 50 per cent overheads. If
overheads exceed 50 per cent of gross earnings he
must earn and receive proportionally more.
A continual check must be kept on
costs unfurnished;
costs furnished and unpaid;
outlay for clients.
To receive £2,600 gross professional fees (max
imum £1,300 net) a solicitor must earn and
receive £2 per hour on the basis of 1300 working
hours per annum. In present day circumstances
£2 per hour is not an adequate valuation of the
costs value of a solicitor's time.
17. Office Hours: With
the
five day week
9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Monday to Friday, allowing
1-J to 1£ hours for lunch represents only 35 hours
per week. Allowing for holidays, illness and ad
ministrative work and unproductive engagements
it is reckoned that a solicitor can hardly work
more than 1300 gainful hours per annum. It has
been put as law as 1000 to 1250 hours.
18. Bookkeeping: There are improved methods
of solicitors' manual book-keeping which are suit
able for a medium sized office and avoid duplica
tion of entries, e.g., the three-in-one system. A
display was given in the Law Society on Novem
ber 24th.
19. Undertakings: A duplicate copy of every
personal undertaking given should be made and
kept in a special folder by the operator of the
case in the same manner as
the reminders in
paragraph 13 until the undertakings have been
carried out. Failure to keep an undertaking leaves
the firm or solicitor personally responsible. The,
client's written authority should be obtained for
any important undertaking and before giving it
you ought to be sure that you will be able to
perform it.
20.
In some offices a great deal of time is
taken up in recording all outgoing mail
in a
letter book which is also a check on expenditure
on postage stamps. This can be saved by
(a)
typing a second carbon copy of each letter; (b)
using a stamp franking machine. All the second
carbon copies are filed in a special folder daily
and constitute a record in chronological order of
outgoing mail. The stamp-franking machine
is
quicker than stamp-licking and has other obvious
advantages from the cash security viewpoint.
21.
Before having any document copy typed
the operator should consider the advantage of
having it photo-copied which is usually quicker
and often cheaper.
It pays
to give continual
thought to mechanisation. For instance an adding
machine is a time-saver in any office in which
long accounts are often required.
22. A memorandum of
instructions on
the
office system should be given to each member of
the staff so that he or she will understand what
is required-and why.
23.
Efficiency in solicitors' offices depends on
co-operation. Obviously when writing
to col
leagues, government departments or anyone else
their references numbers should be cited as well
as your own. There are other methods of co
operation which will be dealt with in a further
article.
ERIC A. PLUNKETT.
SOCIETY OF YOUNG SOLICITORS
A Northern
Ireland
solicitor, Mr. Vincent
Hanna delivered a paper to the Society on the
Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966
on 5th January, 1967. The lecturer expressed con
cern with the methods by which claims will be
determined under the new system of Workmen's
Compensation to be administered by the State.
The Council of Provincial Solicitors in associa
tion with the Society propose holding a Seminar
in Galway on 8th/9th April, 1967, in the Great
Southern Hotel. Bookings will be accepted from
90