President – Sligo & County Sligo Solicitors Bar Association

IN recognising the part played by Solicitors in the economic role of the county you should be aware there were at the last count 85 solicitors operating in a number of firms for we estimate a population of between 50/60,000 people. This means it has become a very competitive business between firms, which can only be good news for the consumer.

While in the old days there was a tradition of remaining with the “Family Solicitor” if your parents had carried out business there that idea is consigned to the 20 th Century.

It is now quite apparent that shopping for legal services is like any other service or product very much on price or location. While there are regulations by the Law Society as to how firms can be marketed it is clear as in all areas of modern sales the legal business is no different and “on line” has become the way to go.

In relation to the Lawyer’s daily work, again different firms have specialised in different areas of Law . There can be general legal work which may involve property transfers but even that area is subject to market forces where there are much fewer houses available for sale and little or no building in our area. It is an area which has not recovered since the 2008 crash.

Lawyers are subjected to more and more regulation both by their own governing body, the Law Society and government bodies. The arrival of Anti-Money Laundering legislation (AML) means that even though clients may be well known to a solicitor for years they now must obtain evidence of identification and proof of address.

Other burdens which have been imposed on the legal business.

Did you know that the State have no central way to collect Money ? We deal with three different ways to pay the State.

For purchase of property Stamp Duty is now taken on line by an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT ) from the Solicitors account.

For issue of Summons through the Court Service Offices they will only take cheques.

For completion of Probate fees a piece of cardboard issued through a franking machine through the Court Office.

The Revenue Commissioners for VAT take directly from your Bank Account. Surely it can’ t be beyond the bounds of progress that one central method is organised to make these payments?

It is well to remember that the legal business in our county is an industry in itself employing well over 300 people both solicitors and support staff and that in itself would constitute an industry if they were all gathered in one place. They all operate to solve problems, complete transactions, transfer property from one generation to the next and act as a “go to” person to be trusted in relation to personal and financial matters by consumers.

At all times the solicitors of our county and nationally are under supervision of the High Court and there is a zero tolerance rule in relation to any mis-management of clients funds which again builds trust in relation to the profession that members of the public can trust that in the event of any funds being mis-appropriated whether in a bank or other accounts that the High Court have a full sanction to strike off any solicitors found to be in breach of regulations.

The Legal Services Act 2014 which proposes to tighten up a number of areas relating to daily legal practice. Again to benefit consumers it deals with the issue of legal costs . This is to be welcomed. The previous Act has been in place since 1994 has now been expanded in what it covers. The issue with his Act unfortunately like a lot of legislation is that although passed by the Dail it has not been brought into force until certain offices are set up.

The Regulation of Complaints is to be managed by an independent body.

This has not been progressed with the speed which it should. It remains to be seen how this will operate and how it will benefit the consumer in relation to complaints.