Conduct and service

Dont cheat the clientThere appears to be growing practice within the profession of trying to make profit from a client by dressing up money...Dont cheat the clientThere appears to be growing practice within the profession of trying to make profit from a client by dressing up money that the solicitor intends to acquire as profit in some other garb.Judging by complaints referred to the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors, this most frequently occurs in connection with conveyancing and the payment for local search fees.

The firm asks for a payment on account which is expressed to include a figure to pay for a local search.However, the actual fee charged by the local authority for supplying the search is significantly less than the amount paid by the client.Some firms have tried to evade detection by paying the full amount they have quoted as the fee to the local authority, which then refunds the excess dressed up as commission.

As the amount involved does not exceed 20, advantage is then taken of the provisions of Law Society practice rule 10 to avoid having to disclose this to the client.Those who indulge in this dubious activity are warned: it certainly amounts to misleading the client and verges on the dishonest.

Indeed, the partners of one firm that recently came to the notice of the Societys compliance and supervision committee after having engaged in this practice can consider themselves fortunate to have escaped with only a severe reprimand.

In that particular case, the client was asked to pay 80 for a local search that in fact cost only 60.This practice is damaging to the reputation of the profession.

Any future recurrence will probably be treated as a breach of practice rule 1.The same principle would also be applicable to any practice that misleads clients with regard to the cost of a disbursement in order artificially to inflate monies to be received by the firm as profit.While on the subject, it may also be a good opportunity to remind practitioners of the limitations on personal local searches.

These are not guaranteed by the local authority and some lenders will not accept them.

In any event, clients should be advised of the limitations and the implications that they may have for clients.l Every case before the compliance and supervision committee is decided on its individual facts.

These case studies are for illustration only and should not be treated as precedents.