LEGAL WORK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22709, 23 October 1935, Page 15

LEGAL WORK

SAFEGUARDING THE PROFESSION AN AMENDING BILL [From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, October 22. An important section in the Law Practitioners Amendment Bill, that prohibiting unqualified persons other than those specified from performing the duties of a solicitor, was struck out when the Bill was further considered by the House ot Representatives to-night. The original clause in the Bill had been modified to a considerable extent by the Statutes Revision Committee, which proposed much wider exemptions with regard to performance of legal work purely for certain businesses and professions, . such as accountancy, sharebroking. banking, insurance, land agency, and the like. The Prime Minister said that, in view of the objections from members, he had decided to ask the House to delete the clause. Mr Forbes said the Bill had been brought forward in the first place by the law societies for the purpose of providing more security for their guarantee fund. The fund was a very heavy impost on members of the profession, but they were interested in giving the investing public an assurance that the money invested with a solicitor would be safe from misappropriation. "The Bill has been before the Statutes Revision Committee," Mr Forbes continued. "The committee took evidence and heard complaints from members of the legal profession and other interested parties. Considerable trouble was experienced in getting the Bill into a form acceptable to the House. One debatable clause on which a good deal of evidence was submitted was that dealing with legal work by unqualified persons. A fresh clause was substituted, but I have received obiectiong to it even in its present form, and at this stage of the session 1 propose that the clause as a whole should be dropped. Certain hardships are bound to arise in the operation of the clause, and I think the dropping of it will meet all objections." Mr W. E. Barnard (Labour member for Napier): Will the Prime Minister tell us if he received objections from any persons other than land brokers? Mr Forbes: There were very considerable objections from members of Parliament, and that is why I propose to drop the clause.