The Gazette 1964/67

of share and goodwill valuation and mentioned en passant the extent to which the private limited com pany has replaced the more conventional forms of property in the last twenty-five years. The lecturer also stated that the Revenue Commissioners are at present considering the simplification and amalgama tion of a number of estate duty forms. This suggestion was made by the Society some years ago and there is ground for hope that it will be adopted in the near future. GROSS SUM BILL The Society recently obtained counsel's opinion as to the essential requirements of a gross sum bill under schedule II of the Solicitors Remuneration General Order 1960 which broadly speaking relates to all non-contentious business other than completed sales, purchases and mortgages for which the com mission scale fees are chargeable. The gross sum provisions of S.R.G.O. 1960 provide that remunera tion of a solicitor for the work to which it applies may, at the option of the solicitor, be by a gross sum in lieu of detailed charges, provided that within twelve months after delivery of a charge by way of gross sum or within one month after payment, (whichever shall be the earlier date), the client may require particulars of the charges computed in the manner prescribed by the order of 1884, as amended, and the solicitor shall thereupon comply with the requisition and any further bill so delivered shall be subject to taxation as if the gross sum provisions of the order had not been made. In the majority of cases the client either pays the gross sum bill furnished or agrees with the solicitor on an abated sum or exercises his right to call for a detailed bill. If the client adopts none of these courses the solicitor cannot sue for the costs claimed within the period of twelve months unless he brings himself within the terms of section 2 of the Attorneys and Solicitors (Ireland) Act 1849 anc^ he must therefore show that he has delivered or posted to his client "a bill of such fees and disbursements" duly signed by the solicitor and that more than one month has expired after such delivery or posting. The bill so delivered for the purpose of proceedings must be in the usual form and the Court may refer it to taxation. If the client calls for a detailed bill under the provisions of S.R.G.O. 1960 it will replace the gross sum bill and it is the detailed bill so furnished that is liable to be taxed. There is no provision for taxation of a gross sum bill. The only case in which proceedings can be taken for recovery of the amount of a gross sum bill without delivery of a detailed bill is a case in which the period of twelve months from delivery of the

gross sum charge has expired without a request by the client for detailed bill. As regard the form of a gross sum charge it should at least distinguish between professional charges and disbursements and if there are several main items of business involved separate charges should be shown for each of them. The gross sum bill is suitable only in cases in which it is anticipated that the client will pay or settle or cases in which it is not intended to proceed for recovery of the bill within a period of twelve months. If the solicitor thinks it desirable for any particular reason to proceed for recovery within that period the bill should be drawn in the ordinary form. In this connection the decision of Kenny J. in re: Greenmount Oil Co. Ltd. and Le Brocquy (see Society's GAZETTE, May 1964, page 7) is important. In that case a gross sum charge was furnished at £2,600 and the client required particulars under clause 6 of S.R.G.O. 1960. In the particulars submitted all the work done was sum marised under an instructions fee running to over 100 pages and the last six pages of the Bill comprised item charges amounting to a sum between £300 and £400. It was held by the Court that in a detailed bill the items should be separately listed and priced under items 2 to 2.0 of schedule II and that the Taxing Master had authority under the heading of instruc tions fee to allow remuneration over and above the total of the itemised charges where having regard to the considerations enumerated in item i of the schedule he thought it reasonable to do so. A statement of a gross sum without details contained in a cash account delivered by a solicitor to the client will in general not be a sufficient gross sum charge. If the client pays the amount stated by the solicitor in a proper gross sum charge he may not have the bill referred to taxation after the expira tion of one month from payment or twelve months from the delivery of the charge whichever date is earlier. This is subject to section 2 of the Attorneys and Solicitors (Ireland) Act 1849 which remains unrepealed and which provides that payment shall not preclude the Court from referring a bill to taxation after payment in special circumstances. Accordingly if the client pays the bill he is never absolutely or conclusively barred from re-opening the matter if he can show that the bill was obviously quite unconscienable or in other special circum stances. The above observations relate to costs chargeable under schedule II S.R.G.O. 1960 and there are complications where all or part of the gross sum bill relates to (a) Land Registry work or (V) costs of extraction of probate which are regulated by the Rules of the Superior Court 1962. Inconvenient as it may be, the only way in which the solicitor can