INDEMNITY FUND

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 47, 23 August 1930, Page 14

INDEMNITY FUND

FOR GENERAL PUBLIC

Ingusii solicitors act

iDOMINION COPIED

'Action by the Englash Law Society Bomewhat on the lines of that adopted b.|' the profession in New Zealand, to obtain the establishment of a Fidelity Guarantee' I?und, is reported by tthe •'Daily Telegraph." This paper states tlwit: at:.the^annual meeting of tho !Daw Society approval was given to the g.eneral principle of a Bill drafted by t£e council for making membership of ;tfe society compulsory upon all solicitors and" making provision for the reimbursement in certain cases of clients vhVmay suffer hardship from tho defaults of solicitors. Exception was taken to a clause relating to the keeping of accounts, and this was deleted by a vote of 33 against. The council were authorised to' procure the introduction oi the Hill. The president, Mr. W. H. Poster, said control and discipline had always been matters of anxious consideration by tffi "council, and for more than two years they had been considering what steps they could take to prevent or mitigate' the- scandals which had been caised by the unprofessional conduct of some of the least reputable members oi tlfe profession. ' TAX REJECTED. 'TTicy submitted to the provincial so•eietefa suggestion that-all solicitors should be taxed in order to provide a Sana for the alleviation of the distress consequent on these regret tab cm irleuts but that did not meet with the fS oval of the country solicitors who were, however, overwhelmingly in favour of compulsory, membership. The council has proceeded on. these lines, and the Bill provided for compulsory proceeded to ask Parliament to 2 ive the society power to make rules fo/ he good "conduct of the profession, and especially with regard toth»-keep-inE of proper accounts. Those mles would be subject to the approval of Se Master of-the Bolls, and it migh to taken that the council were not likely to suggest anything that would Sere wfth: a properly organised solicitor's office, or impose any bniden upon solicitors which were not already borne by most firms. Compulsory audit had been suggested from outside the profession. . .. One of the provisions. was for the formation of a fund out of the inched subscription income derivable from compulsory membership, out oi which th/council might ™ theirjliscretion, relieve some of. the ■ harder cases due to misappropriation. There would be no legal right to a grant, and the find would not be intenae(i as, a£ indemnity fund, because-experience had shown that in a number of cases the losses were due as much to the carelessness and apathy of clients as to the dishonesty of solicitors. He assured the society that if they did nothing themselves Parliament intended to impose upon them regulations and restrictions many of which they would resent. NOT ENTHUSIASTIC. Mr. Coleman, chairman of the fedejated Provincial Law Societies, said that those societies aid not regard the Bill with enthusiasm, but thought H was an honest attempt to deal with a difficult situation. Mr Percy Bottcrell conveyed the approval of the Court of the City of London Solicitors' Company of the general provisions of the Bill. Mr Carter submitted that no system of accounts would prevent defalcations, and that to bring in accountants would involve expense. Ho moved an amendment requesting the council to insert a provision for a levy of not. more than £2 per head to provide an indemnity fund for clients in cases where solicitors had been convicted of (conversion of funds. This was defeated. . ~ Mr. Barry O'Brian, speaking m tho eeneral discussion, said ho did not think that the public had such distrust of the profession as had been suggested. Solicitors appeared to be suffering from a complex of undue respectability, •which might be a curse instead of a blessing. He refused to accept the suggestion that they, as a body, or even a great number of them, were dishonest men. (Hear, hear.) PERSECUTION? Mr. Griffiths asked if the Law Society was a society for the protection Of solicitors or > the persecution of solicitors. The Bill interfered with the individual liberty of solicitors, and was not justified by the number of misappropriations. He would like to see a Bill providing for the transfer of all' the disciplinary and signatory powers of the society to a department of the Law Officers, leaving to themselves all matters bearing on the _ protection and advancement of solicitors. Sir Roger Gregory said the prinfeiple of the Bill was that they should be masters of their own house. He denied that the Bill was, as Mr. O'Brian had suggested, a "Bill tor $he general improvement of the income «f chartered accountants." It did not propose to bring accountants into their offices, bat only to give the council power :to make rules for the proper keeping of accounts. An amendment deleting a clause imposing certain conditions in the keeping of accounts having been agreed to by 108 votes to 75, the chairman said as this was a vital matter he proposed to take a general poll of the whole profession. Mr. C. L. Nordon said that with this 'deletion it might go forth that they were chary of having their accounts looked into. Eventually the chairman agreed to accept tho amendment and cancel the poll, on condition that the jneeting voted on the general principles of the Bill. On a vote being taken, the general principles were approved, subject to the A motion set down by Mr. C. L. Nordon, expressing the desirability of appointing a Royal Commission to consider the high cost of litigation, was not /proposed, the chairman stating that the council were in communication with the Bar Council on the subject.