Launch:A primary theme of the Competition Authority's (CA) final report into the legal profession is the need to move away from self-regulation to independent regulation, the chairman of the authority said yesterday.
Speaking at the publication of the report in Dublin, Bill Prasifka noted that since the launch of its preliminary report in February last year, a number of welcome developments had taken place.
However, much remained to be done and the CA had found that the legal profession is still permeated by "unnecessary and disproportionate" restrictions on competition.
The Bar Council and the Law Society represent the two branches of the legal profession, a situation which was right and proper, he said. "However, they are also responsible for the rules and regulations that are meant to ensure that the profession operates to the benefit of the consumer. These two particular roles can conflict," he said.
Expressing his belief that Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell is someone who is seeking change in the profession, Mr Prasifka stressed that many consumers are also not aware of their rights.
These rights included the fact that it is illegal for a solicitor to charge their client a fee based on a per cent of the award the client receives, and that they are not obliged to pay a solicitor a fee for a conveyance as a percentage of a property's value, he said.
Carol Boate, manager of the CA's advocacy division, said that when conveyancers were introduced in Australia, and accompanied by other reforms, legal costs dropped by some 17 per cent.
