The Gazette 1958-61

of the cases of Lee v. Everest (2 H. & N. 285), and Robins v. Bridge (3, M. & W. 114), a solicitor acting for a named client is not liable as an agent to a doctor for his medical fee for attending Court, whether the solicitor has caused the doctor to be served with a subpoena, or not, unless he undertakes personal liability expressly or by implication. (4) SOLICITORS' UNDERTAKING TO PAY WITNESSES' FEES : If a solicitor has become personally N liable to witnesses for payment of their fees (e.g., where he has given a personal under– taking or held himself out as the principal), he must, following Miller v. Appleton (50 Sol. J. 184) pay whatever fee was agreed upon whether it is allowed on taxation or if some of the claim is disallowed. If no fee has been agreed upon, the witness is entitled to reason– able remuneration, and what this will amount to in any given case must be decided by the Court on a quantum meruit basis if the amount claimed is considered excessive. (5) PERSONAL UNDERTAKINGS BY SOLICITORS: These undertakings may in certain cases be enforced summarily against a solicitor upon application to the Court. Such an under– taking may be enforced whether given to a client or to a third person or to the Court, but it is enforceable only if given by the solicitor in his professional capacity and not as an individual (United Mining and Finance Corporation v. Becher (1910) 2, K.B. 296). A solicitor might also be held responsible if a custom can be proved that he should be so held, and it is for the Court to decide whether such a custom was proved. But a solicitor was held not personally liable to a photographer for ordering photos to be supplied for a trial, on the ground that he was an agent for a named principal (Wakefield v. Ducktvorth (1950), i K.B. 218). On the other hand a solicitor is personally responsible by custom for the charges of a shorthand writer employed to take a note of evidence in liti– gation and for the costs of another solicitor who does business for him, and it is therefore incumbent on him to give express notice if he wishes the business to be done on the client's credit. Counsel's opinion is a statement of the legal position. The Council stated in the Society's Gazette, May, 1956, that the solicitor's professional duty is coextensive with his legal liability although he may voluntarily accept wider obligations. In this con– nection reference was made to the statement pub– lished in the Society's Gazette, November, 1954

Book-keeping Examination AT the Book-keeping Examination for apprentices to Solicitors, held on 29th May, the following passed the examination :

Passed with Merit. John K. Temple-Lang.

Passed. Thomas C. Buckley, Michael J. Fitzsimons, Valentine J. D. Kirwan, John Morrissey, Dominic Mockler, Patrick G. McMahon, Thomas D. Shaw, Daire Walsh. ii candidates attended; 9 passed. LIABILITY FOR PROFESSIONAL FEES. Counsel's Opinion. SENIOR COUNSEL gave these replies to the following questions addressed to him on behalf of the Society in which he was asked for an advisory opinion: (1) (a) FEES FOR MEDICAL AND HOSPITAL TREAT– MENT BEFORE LITIGATION included in the amount of a settlement or verdict. Counsel advises that this does not of itself impose upon the solicitor any legal obligation to ensure that the claim of the hospital or doctor where particulars have been obtained is discharged unless the solicitor gives an undertaking, express or implied, to do so. (b} If the solicitor receives the amount of the damages as a result of the assessment of damages by the jury and that the damages include hospital or medical expenses incurred before litigation, here Counsel advises that the solicitor will receive the money as the agent for and with the authority of the client, and that as no trust arises in favour of either the hospital or the doctor, if the client requires the money, it must usually be paid to him. Where there is an agreed settlement of the client's claim, the defendant's solicitor some– times requires an undertaking arising out of Section 174 of the Road Traffic Act 1933. The plaintiff's solicitor who agrees to give such undertaking, is personally liable for carrying it out. (2) MEDICAL REPORTS Where a solicitor acting for a named client requests a doctor to make an examination and report, Counsel advises that the solicitor will not be personally liable for the doctor's fee, unless, in addition to making the request, he undertakes a personal liability either expressly or by implication. (3) ATTENDANCE OF DOCTORS IN COURT AS WITNESSES : Counsel advises that as a result