LAW SOCIETY NOTICES

Policy statement of the Law Society's compliance board - recovering the costs of investigations1.

This is a statement of policy and should not be read as if it constitutes closely defined rules.

A basic principle is that solicitors who give rise to complaints or investigations which result in an adverse adjudication against them are liable to be directed to pay costs to the Law Society.

2.

A solicitor or firm will normally be directed to pay to the Society the costs of dealing with the matter where:l The solicitor has been found to have committed professional misconduct or failed to comply with any requirement of the Solicitors Act 1974 (as amended) or any professional rules; or,l The solicitor or his firm has been found to have provided professional services which were not of the quality which it is reasonable to expect of them as a solicitor, and the solicitor or firm has been ordered to take one or more of the steps set out in paragraph 2, schedule 1A to the Solicitors Act 1974 (as amended).3.

In the case of complaints about the provision of an inadequate professional service (IPS), costs orders will generally be against the firm rather than the individual solicitor.4.

The costs directed will normally be set amounts ('fixed costs' or 'fixed review costs') calculated by the Society as representing 75% of the average cost of dealing with cases which proceed to adjudication or review respectively.

A direction to pay costs on adjudication will always be discretionary and is subject to the paragraph below.5.

There is a discretion on adjudication (or on review of adjudication) to direct that the solicitor or firm shall pay less than the fixed costs or fixed review costs if it is unfair in all the circumstances to require them to pay the fixed cost.

Examples of circumstances where the discretion might be exercised are indicated below.

6.

If a decision is subject to review:l The costs direction will cease to have effect if, following review, the solicitor is no longer subject to findings as set out in paragraph 2 above.

l However, if the decision on review is that the solicitor is subject to findings as set out in paragraph 2, the solicitor may, in the discretion of the adjudicators, be directed to pay the additional costs incurred, known as fixed review costs; if the solicitor has sought review of a costs direction which is less than the fixed costs, adjudicators may, in disagreeing with the original decision as to costs, increase or decrease the amount directed to be paid.

7.

The level of fixed costs and fixed review costs will be set by the compliance board and will remain effective until varied by the compliance board.

8.

Solicitors who seek to argue that they should not be directed to pay part or all of the costs should direct their representations to substantive issues (as exemplified below).

Adjudicators will not review the calculation of the fixed costs or fixed review costs, and any alleged unfairness will be dealt with on the facts.9.

Solicitors and/or their firms will become liable for costs relating to the investigation of professional conduct complaints received after 1 February 2002 and for costs relating to the investigation of IPS complaints received after 1 May 2002.Circumstances where the discretion might be exercised:l Whether a solicitor or firm should be directed to pay the full amount of fixed costs or fixed review costs is always in the discretion of adjudicators; l Examples where adjudicators might decide that the payment of costs should either not be directed at all, or reduced, include: where an investigation was particularly straightforward and the amount directed to be paid would be disproportionate to the costs of the particular case; where only one allegation of several is upheld against the solicitor and that allegation in itself is relatively minor in comparison to the others; where the solicitor had previously offered redress which was close to the eventual award.

Law Society personal injury panel - appointment of a chief assessor (part-time)The Law Society is seeking to appoint a replacement for the current chief assessor to the personal injury panel who is retiring on 30 April 2002 after six years in the post.

The post is for a period of three years, is subject to a contract for services and carries a honourarium of 7,000 per annum to be paid in arrears by quarterly instalments.

Reasonable disbursements while carrying out the functions of chief assessor may be claimed.The chief assessor will:l Co-ordinate and ensure the quality of the work of the team of assessors marking the application questionnaires and conducting interviews;l Ensure that the panel criteria are clear and up to date and will assist with developing and implementing any agreed changes;l Be the primary expert adviser to the Society and its adjudicators in considering applications for membership of the panel;l Ensure that assessors are fully briefed on the marking schemes and to keep these up to date;l Be involved in the selection and training of assessors as required;l Carry out a review of the panel criteria and assessment processes and make appropriate recommendations to the training committee as necessary;l Take part in the interviews of borderline applicants and appeals to adjudicators as required;l Assist with the consideration of and make recommendations to the adjudicators about complaints against panel members.It is expected that to carry out these functions the chief assessor will need to devote an average over the period of the contract of one day per week to panel matters.

The person:l Must be a solicitor of at least five years' admission and hold a current practising certificate;l Must be a current member of the panel;l Must have substantial experience of personal injury litigation on behalf of claimants;l Must have experience of the operation of assessment processes via portfolio and interview;l Must be able to devote the necessary time to the functions of the chief assessor.Previous experience as an assessor for the panel would be an advantage but is not essential.An application letter, a full CV and the details of two referees should be submitted to the Personal Injury Panel Administrator, Legal Education and Training, The Law Society, Ipsley Court, Redditch, Worcestershire, B98 0TD or use DX 19114 REDDITCH or e-mail: paul.harrison@lawsociety.org.uk.

Applications are required by Monday, 11 March 2002.

Interviews are expected to be conducted during the week beginning 8 April 2002.For additional information, contact Paul Harrison, tel: 01527 504415.

NOTICERegional protection advisory committees - applications for membershipThe Environment Agency is inviting applications for membership of the seven English and the Welsh regional environmental protection advisory committees by 15 February 2002.

Additional information is available from Steven Durno at the Law Society, tel: 020 7320 5726.