The Gazette 1991

GAZETTE

NOVEMBER 1991

Solicitors Bill Assessed In this article, the Director General of the Law Society, Noel Ryan, gives a personal assessment of how the Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, 1991 helps the profession in relation to the many issues currently facing it.

Compensation Fund The burning issue over the past 12 months has been the Compensa- tion Fund and the open-ended liability of the profession in respect of claims arising from dishonesty on the part of some practising solicitors. The seriousness of this was brought home to the Society in late 1990, when a claim of £9.2m was notified in one parti- cular case. In the circumstances, it is reassuring that the very con- siderable pressure exerted by the Society on the Government to have the law relating to the Compen- sation Fund amended has been successful, in at least one important respect. Section 28 of the Bill amends the 1960 Act to provide that claims on the Fund may in future be made only by persons who are clients of solicitors. In this context, it also provides that a solicitor cannot himself be a client of his own practice. This provision will reverse the effect of the Supreme Court decision in the Trustee Savings Bank case in 1989 and should go a very substantial way towards easing the concerns of the pro- fession, particularly in relation to the possibility of claims arising from undertakings given to third parties (especially financial institu-

By now each member of the pro- fession will have had an opport- unity of studying the Solicitors Bill in some detail and many will have made an assessment of its impact on the profession. The purpose of this article is to give a personal view as to how I see the Bill in terms of the problems facing the profession at present and the demands that are emerging, or are likely to emerge, in the foreseeable future. Amongst the major issues facing the profession at the present time are: • the Compensation Fund and how the financial burden of it can be lessened • enhancing professionalism in day-to-day practice, improving the profession's image as client- orientated and providing a quality service • improving the disciplinary machinery of the Society so that it can deal more effectively with disciplinary matters • achieving a balance between ensuring reasonable access to the profession, on the one hand, and ensuring that standards are not lessened and livelihoods threatened through over-supply of new entrants • the question of whether we should have joint professional legal education and other related issues • competition from non-lawyers in the provision of legal services • the structure of the profession itself and what changes, if any, might be on the way. I propose to look at the Bill and see what it has to offer on each of these in turn. Issues facing the profession

tions) which has been a feature of recent high-profile claims. Improving professionalism Not every member of the Society will automatically relate the new powers which the Bill will give to the Society to the concept of improving the professionalism and, thereby, the image of the Society. In my view, there is a clear link. The Bill provides the Society with new powers which will help it deal more effectively with those in the profession who, sadly, do not adhere to the high standards of their colleagues, thereby damaging the good name of the profession as a whole. Some of these powers are long overdue and badly needed and they will help the Society both in relation to the area of dishonesty and the area of complaints about inadequate professional standards and overcharging. The new powers (in sections 8 and 9) which will allow the Society to impose sanctions on solicitors for in- adequate services and over- charging are important. The Society lacks any real teeth in these areas at present. These powers should also help towards improving the image of the

At the Law Society's Press Conference on the Solicitors (Amendment) Bill which took place on Friday, 25th October, 1991 were L-R: R. Maurice R. Curran, Chairman of the Solicitors Bill Committee; Donal G. Binchy, then President of the Law Society; and Adrian P. Bourke, President-elect, Law Society.