The Ministry of Justice has yet to reveal next steps in the lord chancellor’s grand plan to tap interest on lawyers’ client accounts. This is odd, because it has had plenty of time to consider the idea. Half a century, in fact.
Yes, it is 50 years ago this month since legal scholar and campaigner Michael Zander (pictured) published in the New Law Journal an article entitled ‘Should solicitors profit from their client accounts?’
His short answer was no. Zander dismissed as ‘not convincing’ the argument that it would be impractical to calculate returns to clients, but went on to suggest that a new fund ‘to be used for a variety of purposes in the legal services field’ would be an even better use for the money.
Inspired by schemes in Australia and Canada, Zander concluded: ‘A great many invaluable improvements in legal services, legal education, legal research and the like could be achieved with an extra few million pounds per year.’
The solicitor branch of the profession was not impressed. The Gazette accused him of attempting to ‘whip up excitement in the media’. The article ‘shows a complete lack of any sense of the realities of running a solicitor’s practice, or indeed of any form of business’, a contributor sneered.
Half a century on, the author – now Professor Michael Zander KC (hon) – tells Obiter he is ‘pleased and very surprised’ to see his idea re-emerge. However, he is definitely sceptical about the current proposal that the cash raised be shovelled into some unspecified MoJ maw. ‘That’s not good,’ he says. The profession will agree with him on that, at least.
Will the nonagenarian Zander be part of the debate? ‘I retired 28 years ago, but I’m still very active as emeritus professor,’ he tells Obiter. Lord chancellor, beware.
No comments yet