Transmenu powered by JoomlArt.com - Mambo Joomla Professional Templates Club

The Solicitors Remuneration Enforcement Committee (“the Committee”) wishes to highlight the following matters pertaining to the enforcement of the SRO:

1. Notice to Complete and Deliver a Return

Pursuant to Rule 4(1)(a) of the Solicitors’ Remuneration (Enforcement) Rules 2004 (“the Enforcement Rules”), a Notice to Complete and Deliver a Return had been sent to every legal firm, requesting for submission of a return in relation to transactions for the period specified therein. A total of 5331 notices were issued during the period from 4 February 2005 till 22 February 2006. In some cases, the law firm had to submit returns for a total period of 4 months during the said period.

2. Notice to Provide Information or Particulars

Pursuant to Rule 4(1)(c) of the Enforcement Rules, a notice in writing had been sent to a number of legal firms requiring such legal firms to provide information or particulars of the relevant transaction(s) within 14 days from the date of each notice. Such notices were issued where there may have been a breach of the SRO based on the information furnished to the Bar Council. A total of 14 notices had been issued pursuant to this rule at the time of writing this report.

3. Notice Requiring Advocate and Solicitor to Attend Personally

Pursuant to Rule 4(1)(b) of the Enforcement Rules, notices had been issued to 19 members of the Bar at the time of writing this report to require them to attend personally and produce for examination all relevant documents relating to the transaction(s) in question. The reason for the attendance is not only to ensure that there has been compliance with the SRO but also to educate the members on the SRO. In some cases as a result of the attendance, the Committee had recommended to the Bar Council that a complaint be lodged against the said member where it is clear that there has been a breach of the SRO.

4. Complaints to the Disciplinary Board

The Committee had recommended to the Bar Council that a complaint be lodged with the Disciplinary Board against 14 members of the Bar for non-compliance of the SRO at the time of writing this report. A number of the complaints were as a result of information given by third parties and not as a result of the information gathered from the returns submitted. At the time of writing this report, there are 4 complaints at the Investigating Tribunal stage and 1 complaint at the Disciplinary Committee stage.

5. Waiver of Fees

Based on the Bar Council Guidelines on Waiver of Fees in Conveyancing Matters dated 8 December 2004, the Committee had considered numerous applications for waiver of fees in various circumstances. The Committee had granted approval for waiver in most cases. It would be too lengthy to list the approvals granted herein. Suffice to say that waiver of fees was not granted to developers, bankers and private companies.

6. Statutory Declaration

The Committee had proposed that the statutory declaration (to be given with the return submitted to Bar Council) be amended to prevent the practice of cash refunds. A new format had been submitted to the Bar Council who had approved the same and this new format shall include a declaration that no method or device has been employed by members which has the effect of providing a discount. The new format further requires a partner of the firm to affirm the statutory declaration as well as the solicitor in charge of the transaction.

7. Joint meeting of professional bodies in relation to scale fees

As part of the effort to enforce the SRO, a joint meeting of professional bodies was convened on 24 November 2005. The response from the other professional bodies was overwhelming and the end result of the meeting, most encouraging. The objective of the meeting was to discuss and agree on a joint memorandum by professional bodies on the necessity and desirability for scale fees to be maintained and to inform the public that it is not in the interest of the public or the various professions for professional fees to be decided entirely by market forces.

The gist of the joint memorandum is that professional services are intellectual and creative products and are not commodities. All the professional bodies present agreed to a joint press conference on 20 January 2006 to officially announce the joint memorandum and release it to all relevant parties and most importantly to the Real Estate & Housing Developers’ Association.

Subsequently, on 20 January 2006, nine professional bodies and boards got together for a joint press conference at the Bar Council Secretariat to issue a joint memorandum in support of professional fees. A copy of the joint memorandum can be downloaded by clicking here. The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations and the National House Buyers Association were also represented at the joint press conference and they voiced their support for professional scale fees and the “No Discount Rule”.

8. Response from financial institution in relation to the SRO

The Committee had written to financial institutions wherever necessary to seek clarification on their position in relation to the SRO, as well as where there are complaints from members.

A copy of the replies from the financial institutions can be downloaded by clicking here for Hong Leong Bank Berhad and here for United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Berhad.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed