header-logo header-logo

Out of date?

07 February 2014 / Murray Heining
Issue: 7593 / Categories: Opinion
printer mail-detail
web_heining_0

Is the Solicitors Act 1974 still relevant, asks Murray Heining

Since the introduction of the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA 2007) and the extension to persons authorised to provide legal services, I have mulled over the continued relevance of the Solicitors Act 1974 (SA 1974).

Bentine

The recent ruling in Bentine v Bentine [2013] EWHC 3098 (Ch), [2013] All ER (D) 02 (Nov) brought it to mind again. Proudman J had to determine whether costs disallowed for want of retainer should be excluded from the total of invoiced costs for the purposes of the “one-fifth rule” contained in s 70(9) of SA 1974.

This provides that if a solicitor’s bill is reduced by one fifth or more, then the solicitor will bear the costs of the assessment. If the bill is reduced by less than one-fifth or is not reduced, then they are paid by the paying party, unless there are good reasons found to depart from this rule. She ruled that costs disallowed for want of retainer should be excluded for the “one-fifth”

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll