XN000022-1997-01-07 — Page 8

Myth 6

Fact 6

Myth 7

Fact 7

Myth 8

Fact &

Myth 9

Fact 9

Myth 10

7-

Scale fees ensure quality service and ethical conduct by solicitors.

It is self-evident that negligent work and unethical conduct can, and do, occur despite the existence of scale fees.

Without scale fees, there will be no way to ensure quality and ethical conduct.

Most areas of legal work are not subject to scale fees, yet lawyers provide quality services and behave ethically in those areas.

Solicitors, who are members of a profession, have a legal and professional duty to provide quality legal services, regardless of whether scale fees are payable.

If scale fees are abolished, the black sheep will corner the market.

Lawyers have a monopoly over conveyancing services on the basis that they have the necessary expertise, ethical standards and professional discipline to provide a proper service to consumers.

The legal profession therefore has the responsibility of ensuring that such a proper service is provided and that "black sheep" are disciplined or prevented from practising.

The Government is responsible for failing to adjust scale fees in the past, and should have ensured that they were at an appropriate level.

The Law Society knows better than anyone else whether there is a need to adjust the scales of fees. It could have called for a general revision of scale fees in recent years, as it did several times in the 1970's and 1980's.

The Government believes that scale fees are wrong in principle and does not, therefore, support any tinkering with the fee scales.

The Costs Committee is an independent body which can properly decide what fees are fair.