Solicitors guilty of undue delay
in certain
matters.
1963 6, 31. 1. 14.
(2) Where the name of the solicitor is removed from or struck off the roll or a solicitor is suspended from practice, that solicitor shall within twenty-one days from the material date satisfy the Committee that he has made suitable arrangements for making avail- able to his clients or to some other solicitor or solicitors instructed by his clients or by himself-
(a) all deeds, wills, documents constituting or evidencing title to any property, papers, books of accounts, records, vouchers and other documents in his or his firm's possDS- sion or control, or relating to any trust of which he is the sole trustee or co-trustee only with one or more of his partners, clerks or servants; and
(b) all sums of money due from him or his firm to, or held by him or his firm on behalf of, bis clients or subject to any such trust as aforesaid,
and if he fails so to satisfy the Committee, the Sched- ule shall apply in relation to him.
(3) In subsection (2), the expression "the material date" means whichever is the latest of the following dates, that is to say-
(a) the date when the order of the Disciplinary Committee or of the court by or in pursuance of which the solicitor's name is removed from or struck off the roll, or the solicitor is suspended from practice, is to take effect:
(b) the last date on which an appeal against that
order may be lodged:
(c) the date on which any such appeal is dis-
missed or abandoned.
(4) In this section and in the Schedule, the ex- pressions "trust" and "trustee" shall extend to implied and constructive trusts and to cases where the trustee has a beneficial interest in the trust property and to the duties incident to the office of a personal repre- sentative and trustee, where the context includes a personal representative.
26B. (1) Where-
(a) a complaint is made to the Committee that
there has been undue delay on the part of a solicitor in connexion with any matter in
Schedule.
Control of deceased
solicitor's practice in certain cir- cumstances. 1969 e. 33, m. L).
Schedule.
which he or his firm has been instructed on behalf of a client or any matter which relates to the administration of a trust of which that solicitor is the sole trustee or co-trustee only with one or more of his partners, employees or articled clerks; and
(b) the Committee has by notice in writing invited the solicitor to give an explanation in respect of that matter; and
(c) the solicitor has, within a period of not less than eight days specified in the said notice, failed to give an explanation in respect of that matter which the Committee regards as sufficient and satisfactory; and
(d) the solicitor has been notified in writing by
the Committee that he has so failed.
the provisions of the Schedule, other than paragraphs 7 and 8 thereof, shall apply in relation to that solicitor. but as regards the documents specified in paragraph 1. and the sums of money specified in paragraph 10, of the Schedule, only in so far as they relate to the matter complained of:
Provided that for the purposes of the proviso to paragraph 6 of the Schedule, the Committee may take copies of, or extracts from, documents which relate to the matter complained of or to that matter and to other matters in the solicitor's practice.
(2) In this section the expressions "trust” and "trustee" have the same meanings as in section 26A.
26C. (1) Where—
(a) the Committee has reasonable cause to believe that the representatives of a deceased solicitor who immediately before his death was practising as a solicitor in his own name. or as a sole solicitor under a firm name, have been guilty of dishonesty or undue delay in administering the affairs of that solicitor's practice or in connexion with any trust of which that solicitor was the sole trustee or co-trustee only with one or more of his clerks or servants; or
(b) a solicitor dies and immediately before his death the provisions of the Schedule applied to him,