Members have expressed their views that they are strongly in favour of the abrogation of the 2-scale system, viz. for a brief fee of $300 for the first assigned case in one year and $750 for any subsequent case in that year, which system and scale were fixed in 1952.
Members of the practising bar have continued to take assigned cases on the 1952 scale of fees although such scale has become unrealistic with the increased cost of operating their chambers and of living generally. When barristers are taken away from practising at their normal fees by an assigned case on the 1952 scale of fees they are asked to bear a disproportionate portion of a social service offered by the community, and this burden has become increasingly onerous.
Earlier correspondence in the year with the Chief Justice was directed to the dates on which different scales of fees were adopted. By a letter dated August 17, 1967 I suggested that minimum fees should be $750 brief with $250 refreshers and that fees generally should be related to those payable on civil legal aid briefs and to those payable on prosecution briefs delivered by the Attorney General. A copy of this letter is reproduced as Appendix "C".
By a further letter dated August 17, 1967 I pointed out to the Chief Justice that comparable fees in England had been substantially increased until in 1965 counsel gained the right to suggest the appropriate fee is a case when the ultimate amount would be settled by a taxing officer. This position would seem to be closely related to that suggested in the preceding paragraph.
I met with the Chief Justice on September 15, 1967 and as a result he wrote a letter dated September 25, 1967. A copy of this letter is reproduced as Appendix "D". In this letter the Chief Justice suggested the appointment of a
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