The Gazette 1979

GAZETTE

JULY-AUGUST

1979

A four-partner firm, pays £950 per annum for its cover of £200,000 (£50,000 x 4); a ten-partner firm pays £2,000 per annum for the maximum compulsory cover of £500,000 (£50,000 x 10). These levels compare very favourably with the U.K., where a three-partner firm in London pays over £2,000 per annum for cover of £150,000 (50,000 x 3). The cover negotiated extends to all acts of omission or commission in everything that a Solicitor does in Scotland. This includes practice as Estate Agents (and 65% of all house sales in Scotland are negotiated by Solicitors acting as such) as well as acting in other capaci- ties such as Executors or Trustees, Company Directors or Company Secretaries. So far, Mr. Pritchard was happy to say, the claims experience has been excellent. The latest available figures show that £1,200,000 has been collected in premiums. Twenty-six Claims Files have been opened. Six such Files have been closed. Claims paid out amount to £6,000. Pending claims (which may not all be sustained) amount to £200,000. Mr. Pritchard was in no doubt whatever that some form of insurance, covering the entire profession without exception, is essential and that the public is entitled to the reassurance that if we make mistakes, they will not suffer. Arguably, as the Solicitors' profession in Ireland is of comparatively modest size, it should not be unduly difficult to devise an Insurance Scheme in this Country which would give the public maximum protection at rates which the profession could afford. This could well require special legislation but, in the present climate of ever- increasing awareness of the vulnerability of professional and public alike, such legislation might be easier to obtain in this Country now than was the case in Scotland in the early 1970's. It is certainly a subject which the profession should take further — and fast!

alternative would be the most suitable and would, in particular, have the very important advantage that from its inception all claims records would be available in the one Scheme, so, for the first time ever, the profession could really assess its own performance and negotiate premium levels with proper statistical backing. The "Master Policy" was in due course arranged with a leading Insurance Group, and the fact that the insurer receives a very large premium indeed provides the Law Society with considerable strength to negotiate on an "each and every claim" basis. It was recommended that the Scheme should operate on a "flexible premium", whereby the good risks pay less than the bad. The latest available statistics for the Scheme show that:- Only two firms are subject to maximum premium loadings. This must be seen in the context of 3,100 Solicitors practicing in the private sector, paying between them approximately £1,000.00, per annum in premiumsm The Scottish Law Society decided that sole practitioners should be covered in the sum of £75,000 each and that firms of more than one Solicitor should be covered for £50,000 per partner, up to a maximum cover of £500,000. The Scheme also enables optional extra cover to be arranged on negotiated terms. In negotiating premium levels, the Scottish Law Society insisted that quotations should be based on the then available statistics for Scottish Solicitors only. In the result, a sole practitioner pays at present for his cover of £75,000 a premium of approximately £390 per annum. 81.1% are on "normal" risk premiums; 3.15% have a compulsory excess of cover; 9.3% have premium loadings.

Bills Introduced in the Oireachtas in 1979

The following list of 1979 Bills is up to date as of 2 May, 1979

Redundancy Payments Bill, 1979 entitled An Act to amend and extend the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 to 1973, and to provide for other connected matters. (Initiated 15/1/79) - No. 1 of 1979, as amended in Committee 21/2/79; as passed by Dail Eireann 28/2/79; as passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas, 14/3/79). The Bill provides for changes in the Redundancy Pay- ments Scheme and also includes a provision which would empower the Minister for Labour to appoint two additional vice-chairmen and six additional ordinary members to the Employment Appeals Tribunal and to make further appointments should the workload of the Tribunal warrant it.

Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) (Amendment) Bill, 1979, entitled An Act to amend the Tribunal of Inquiry (Evidence) Act, 1921. (Initiated 31/1/79 - No. 2 of 1979; as passed by Dail Eireann 7/2/79; as passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas 20/2/79). Amends Sec. 1 of the 1921 Act relating to the con- duct of witnesses and the giving of evidence to a Tribunal and provides for penalties for offences under Sec. 3 of the Bill. Vests a tribunal with the powers of the High Court or a High Court Judge in respect of the making of Orders. Payment of Wages Bill, 1979 entitled An Act to provide for the payment of certain wages otherwise than 85