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 PENANG:  Three teams of members from the Solicitors
Remuneration Enforcement Committee (SREC) visited 6 legal firms in Penang last
Friday and Saturday, both on the island and the mainland, to verify the
information contained in the legal firms’ returns for 2005 transactions.
The teams were led by the SREC Chairman and Bar Councillor, Roger Tan, Deputy
Chairman and former Bar Councillor, Ong Siew Wan, Bar Councillors, Tony Woon and
Asmadi Awang, former Bar Councillors, Dato’ A Ramanathan and Andrew Wong. Other
SREC members in the team were Rosnah Faisal (Pahang Bar), Zalina Abidin (Selangor Bar) and Sally
Chee (Selangor Bar).
The partners of the firms concerned and their solicitors in charge, gave their
full cooperation by furnishing explanation and further documentary evidence of
the reported transactions which was required by the team of enforcers.
Team members have commented that, generally, some of these members of the Penang Bar are not
familiar with the provisions contained in the SRO. It is also noted that many
firms rely too much on their conveyancing clerks on matters relating to billing.
Some firms visited have charged a separate fee for the sale
and purchase agreement on top of the scale fees for completing the transaction.
Charges for subsidiary instruments relating to security documents are also not
charged according to the SRO.
In the case of one legal firm, it was apparent that some documents have been
removed from the files prior to the visit by the enforcement team.
When informed of this, Tan said that lawyers should not
remove any document from the files relating to transactions reported in the
returns, and the Bar Council takes a serious view on such conduct as it is
tantamount to tampering with evidence with intent to mislead the enforcement team.
Similarly, the team also discovered that one legal firm apparently did not submit to the Bar Council all transactions in their returns during the
required period.
Tan added that the teams' reports would be tabled at the
next SREC meeting to discuss the next course of action against those firms
which have been found either to have given discounts or overcharged or committed both the breaches.
He also did not rule out the possibility of returning to Penang as 4 other
firms' returns submitted require serious explanation and further clarification.
Tan also announced that members of the SREC will be visiting two legal firms in Perak this week.
During the visit, one SREC member also sat down with the
Commercial Crimes Department of the Penang Police who have sought the assistance
of the Bar Council to brief them on conveyancing practices.
The team which visited 6 Penang firms last Friday and
Saturday, comprising 3 Bar Council members, 3 past Bar Council members, 3
SREC members and the Executive Officer.
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Circular No 110/2012: Seminar on Introduction to ICC Arbitration: An Insight into the 2012 ICC Rules
