The Malaysian Bar - 2011/2012 Ad Hoc Committee on Conditional Fee Rules Interim Report

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Ad Hoc Committee On Conditional Fee Rules

2011/2012 Ad Hoc Committee on Conditional Fee Rules Interim Report

Thursday, 15 September 2011 03:23pm

Bar Council sought Members’ feedback on the proposed Contingency Fee Rules via Circular No 184/2010 dated 1 July 2010 and the “General Information on Decisions Made at the 4th Council Meeting Held on 19 June 2010” dated 5 July 2010.

Bar Council issued Circular No 062/2011 dated 11 Mar 2011, notifying Members that the Committee had taken into consideration the issues raised by Members and made appropriate amendments to the proposed Rules. Subsequently, Bar Council received four comments, which were circulated to the committee members.

On 8 Mar 2011, the Ad Hoc Committee on Conditional Fee Rules submitted the proposed Rules, renamed as “Conditional Fee Rules”, to the Attorney General for consideration.

The proposed Rules set out, inter alia, the following terms:

(1) The proposed Rules are to be confined to accident cases only;
(2) There shall be a minimum retainer fee of RM500;
(3) Party and party costs are fixed at 10% of the compensation;
(4) A practitioner who recovers compensation on behalf of his or her client is allowed to charge for solicitor-client costs, which are capped at a maximum of 20% of the compensation as well as disbursements incurred (as specified in the Schedule) in excess of party and party costs;
(5) The scale of fees is the maximum permissible under the proposed Rules and parties may contract below the maximum scale; and
(6) There shall be a written contract specifying the terms and conditions of the retainer.

The Attorney General’s Chambers (“AGC”) responded to the Committee’s request for a meeting to discuss the proposed Rules, and called for a meeting on 17 June 2011, which was chaired by Ida Hanani bt Abd Karim, Drafting Division, AGC. Also present at the meeting were Nik Ahmad Marzuki Nik Mohamed, Head of the Arbitration & ADR Division, AGC, and committee members Tony Woon Yeow Thong and Jude Raj.

At the request of AGC, the Committee had submitted a background paper and the rationale for the proposed Rules, and is awaiting the proposed Rules to be approved and gazetted under section 77 of the Legal Profession Act 1976.

Tony Woon Yeow Thong

Chairperson

Ad Hoc Committee on Conditional Fee Rules

Dated 24 Aug 2011

1) Tony Woon Yeow Thong (Chairperson)

Members:

(2) Amar Chand Vohrah

(3) Gnasegaran s/o Egamparam

(4) Gunasegaran Singaravelu

(5) Jude Celestine Raj

(6) Kanagasabapathi s/o Shanmugam

(7) Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari