THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1912. LAWYERS' FEES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 16 November 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1912. LAWYERS' FEES.

[ A statement made at the recent an- ! nual meeting of the Law Society in London by the president, Mr Samson, to the effect that "the great deterrent to litigation was the enormous cost caused by counsel's fees," has given rise to much comment in legal circles at Home. A gentleman sign- ' ing himself-"A barrister of twenty years standing," gives, in the course i of an article in the Daily Mail, some i interesting facts concerning the increase in fees, and attempt an explanation of the causes in operation. The writer relates that an eminent lawyer used to have a notice posted up in his clerk-room that he could not look at papers without a preliminary, fee of 50 guineas, apart from any figure marked on the'.brief. This was considered a bold thing to do at the time. Mr Edwin Jrlmes, Q.C., in the 'seventies, at a time when his success was assured, did not demand an initial fee, and records with satis- , faction the. sum of 200 guineas on a brief. Sergeant Ballantine, the loading criminal lawyer of his day, travelled to In.di.a- to defend the Gaekwar of Tiaroda for a sum about half that which he would have commanded today. At the -present time, the writer | asserts, there are as many as a dozen / men at the Bar who ask preliminary ' ' J

fees of four figures before reading papery, and gel, what they ask. J Various reasons for this increase in I fees have been suggested. One explanation that has heen put forward is the riso of joint-stock companies, ' and the immense interests now invol- ( veil in litigation. Hut as tho writer I points out, large companies, though i prtjmpt are not usually generous payI ers, and counsel's fees in ca>es over. 1 \vhi>K> the interests involved run intrr immense sums, are not often high. The explanation is rather to be sought ; '''in'two causes, specialisation in the first place, and solicitors themselves in :the second. "We live," remarks the writer, "in the days of experts. One 'Silk' is great' on figures. One comes along involving complicated finance. The lay client has read ~j about him in the. papers and looks j upon it as a sine qua non to success that he should be retained." The j solicitor, though he knows quite well that others could do the. job for half thp price, and would probably devote ■twice the time and trouble to it that he can, einnot bring himself to say i "no." Hence, he is besieged by clients, and in accordance with the law of supply and demand his price goes nil. An eminent TC.G. often puts HO l)is fees .simply to limit the pressure rf work, with the whole of ' which 113 cannot hope to grapple. The writer is trying to bring about what (every wise solicitor aims at—a. gre:t- ---' I er distribution of work at the. Bar.