DEFAULTING SOLICITORS

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 96, 24 April 1928, Page 9

DEFAULTING SOLICITORS

PUBLIC OPINION AROUSED.

GENERAL CONFIDENCE

SHATTERED.

A PRACTICAL SAFEGUARD

WANTED.

(By CROESUS.)

The reports of heavy defalcations on t the part of solicitors are becoming too frequent for the peace of mind of the general community. It cannot very well u be denied that to the ordinary layman jj there is no profession whose probity r and financial standing are more difficult t to estimate than that of solicitors, and a it is a matter for grave regret that the a natural confidence of the public in these g qualifications is being constantly shaken t by the lapse Of individual members of t the profession. It is for the profes- t sion to remove the suspicion engendered a by tfiese incidents, whereas during the t last few years everything has tended f to confirm it. Solicitors who have been held in the highest esteem by their col- « leagues, and also by the general public, > have afterwards been found to have s misappropriated the trust funds com- i mitted in confidence to their care, < usually by helpless widows or by men < of no financial knowledge. An isolated i case or two would not necessarily de- * mand drastic action, for there are black sheep in every flock, but the frequency of these defalcations proves beyond all question that the ordinary safeguards are ineffective, and that even a strict audit is useless to prevent crime. Collectively the Law Society have it entirely in their own hands to devise a ' scheme which would make trust funds 1 just as safe as if they were placed on | deposit in the Post Office Savings Bank, where the whole country is behind the J depositor, but they have done nothing to remove* the impression generally held ! that when a solicitor goes wrong their sole concern is to get him off the roll. As if that helps the people who have been robbed! When a milkman adds 10 per cent of water to his milk, nobody waits for his fellow-tradesmen to frame regulations to protect the public in the future, but when a solicitor gets away with a few thousands from trnsting widows nothing is done to prevent a repetition except to brand the defaulter as "a disgrace to an honourable profes r ! sion." The public want more than that, 1 and the only question seems to be - whether the Law Society will devise a I scheme themselves or whether they r would prefer to have it done, for them. ! The former course seems preferable, from all points of view, but chiefly be- ) cause it would be inexpensive and fully i effective, while tending to restore con- . fidence in the profession. Probably noi» body cares how it is done, so long as u the desired goal is readied, that when

once a man is a registered member of the Law Society the investing public should know that they have the whole iStrength of that body behind them.

An insurance fund has always been turned down, and yet it seems by far the best way, for if everything goes right it should cost practically nothing. Annual subscriptions could be fixed on any basis that was thought fair, collected by the Law Society, and invested by the Public Trustee. In a very few years the fund would be so large, if there were no defalcations, that further subscriptions could be merely nominal, and the interest could ev<en be returned annually to the subscribers, or the capital to their heirs and assigns, in the exact ratio of their contributions. If a lawyer went wrong, the subscriptions would naturally have to be- increased, until the fund was again built up, but this very contingency would probably prevent any defalcations, for more care would be exercised in admitting new members, and also in keeping a more watchful eye on those who are already enrolled. If anyone can suggest a cheaper and more effective way to assure the public regarding their trust funds, it is hoped that be brought forward, but something on the above lines will have to be done, either by the Law Society or by the Government. ' It 'must be understood that no personal consideration should interfere with the adoption of measures to restore public confidence, for it is no reflection upon the admitted integrity of the ninety and nine who keep to the' straight and narrow way, when it is suggested that the unsuspecting public 1 should be adequately protected from the

depredations of the one man of weak' character who falls when he finds himself temporarily in unrestricted control of large funds. This suggestion, which could be carried out at a merely nominal cost, is offered as an eminently practical means to restore general confidence in what all like to regard as "an honourable profession."