PART VIII | REMUNERATION OF SOLICITORS AND LAW CORPORATIONS |
| Prohibition of certain stipulations |
107.—(1) No solicitor shall —| (a) | purchase or agree to purchase the interest or any part of the interest of his client or of any party in any suit, action or other contentious proceeding brought or to be brought or maintained; or | | (b) | enter into any agreement by which he is retained or employed to prosecute any suit or action or other contentious proceeding which stipulates for or contemplates payment only in the event of success in that suit, action or proceeding. |
(2) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to give validity to any purchase or agreement prohibited by subsection (1) or to any disposition, contract, settlement, conveyance, delivery, dealing or transfer which is void or invalid against —| (a) | the Official Assignee under the law relating to bankruptcy; | | (b) | a liquidator or receiver under the law relating to the winding up of companies; or | | (c) | a creditor in any composition. |
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| (3) A solicitor shall, notwithstanding any provision of this Act, be subject to the law of maintenance and champerty like any other person. |
| (4) This section shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to a law corporation. [4/2000] |
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| Orders as to remuneration of solicitors for non-contentious business |
108.—(1) For the purposes of this section, there shall be a committee consisting of the following persons:| (a) | the Chief Justice; | | (b) | the Attorney-General; | | (c) | the President of the Society; and | | (d) | 2 solicitors nominated by the Council. |
| (2) The committee or any 4 of the members thereof (the Chief Justice being one) may make general orders prescribing and regulating in such manner as they think fit the remuneration of solicitors or law corporations in respect of non-contentious business and any order made under this section may revoke or alter any previous order so made. [41/2005 wef 04/12/2006] [4/2000] |
(3) An order made under this section may, as regards the mode of remuneration, prescribe that it shall be according to a scale of rates of commission or percentage, varying or not in different classes of business, or by a gross sum, or by a fixed sum for each document prepared or perused, without regard to length, or in any other mode, or partly in one mode and partly in another, and may regulate the amount of remuneration with reference to all or any of the following, amongst other, considerations:| (a) | the position of the party for whom the solicitor or law corporation is concerned in the business, that is, whether as vendor or purchaser, lessor or lessee, mortgagor or mortgagee, and the like; [41/2005 wef 04/12/2006] | | (b) | the place where, and the circumstances in which, the business or any part thereof is transacted; | | (c) | the amount of the capital money or rent to which the business relates; | | (d) | the skill, labour and responsibility involved therein on the part of the solicitor or law corporation ; and [41/2005 wef 04/12/2006] | | (e) | the number and importance of the documents prepared or perused, without regard to length. |
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(4) An order made under this section may authorise and regulate —| (a) | the taking by a solicitor or a law corporationfrom a client of security for payment of any remuneration, to be ascertained by taxation or otherwise, which may become due to him or the law corporationunder any such order; and [41/2005 wef 04/12/2006] | | (b) | the allowance of interest. [4/2000] |
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| (5) So long as an order made under this section is in operation, taxation of bills of costs of solicitors or law corporations in respect of non-contentious business shall, subject to section 109, be regulated by that order. [41/2005 wef 04/12/2006] [4/2000] |
| (6) Section 131 shall apply to any order made under this section. |
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| Agreements with respect to remuneration for non-contentious business |
| 109.—(1) Whether or not any order is in force under section 108, a solicitor and his client may, either before or after or in the course of the transaction of any non-contentious business by the solicitor, make an agreement as to the remuneration of the solicitor or law corporation in respect thereof. [4/2000] | (2) An agreement under subsection (1) shall not provide for costs at a scale lower than that provided by any order made under section 108. |
| (3) The agreement may provide for the remuneration of the solicitor or law corporation by a gross sum, or by commission or percentage, or by salary, or otherwise, and it may be made on the terms that the amount of the remuneration therein stipulated for either shall or shall not include all or any disbursements made by the solicitor or law corporation in respect of searches, plans, travelling, stamps, fees or other matters. [4/2000] |
| (4) The agreement shall be in writing and signed by the person to be bound thereby or his agent in that behalf. |
| (5) The agreement may be sued and recovered on or set aside in the like manner and on the like grounds as an agreement not relating to the remuneration of a solicitor or law corporation. [4/2000] |
| (6) If on any taxation of costs the agreement is relied on by the solicitor or law corporation and objected to by the client as unfair or unreasonable, the taxing officer may enquire into the facts and certify them to the court, and if on that certificate it appears just to the court that the agreement should be cancelled, or the amount payable thereunder reduced, the court may order the agreement to be cancelled, or the amount payable thereunder to be reduced, and may give such consequential directions as the court thinks fit. [4/2000] |
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| Remuneration of solicitor who is mortgagee |
| 110.—(1) If a mortgage is made to a solicitor, either alone or jointly with any other person, the solicitor or the firm of which he is a member, or the law corporation of which he is a member, director or an employee, shall be entitled to recover from the mortgagor in respect of all business transacted and acts done by him or them in negotiating the loan, deducing and investigating the title to the property, and preparing and completing the mortgage, such usual costs as he or they would have been entitled to receive if the mortgage had been made to a person who was not a solicitor and that person had retained and employed him or them to transact that business and do those acts. [4/2000] | (2) If a mortgage has been made to, or has become vested by transfer or transmission in, a solicitor, either alone or jointly with any other person, and any business is transacted or acts are done by that solicitor, or by the firm of which he is a member, or by the law corporation of which he is a member, director or an employee, in relation to that mortgage or the security thereby created or the property comprised thereunder, then he or they shall be entitled to recover from the person on whose behalf the business was transacted or the acts were done, and to charge against the security, such usual costs as he or they would have been entitled to receive if the mortgage had been made to and had remained vested in a person who was not a solicitor and that person had retained and employed him or them to transact that business and do those acts. [4/2000] |
| (3) In this section, “mortgage” includes any charge on any property for securing money or money’s worth. |
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| Agreement as to costs for contentious business |
| 111.—(1) Subject to the provisions of any other written law, a solicitor or a law corporation may make an agreement in writing with any client respecting the amount and manner of payment for the whole or any part of its costs in respect of contentious business done or to be done by the solicitor or the law corporation, either by a gross sum or otherwise, and at either the same rate as or a greater or a lesser rate than that at which he or the law corporation would otherwise be entitled to be remunerated. [4/2000] | (2) Every such agreement shall be signed by the client and shall be subject to the provisions and conditions contained in this Part. |
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| Effect of agreements with respect to contentious business |
112.—(1) Such an agreement as is mentioned in section 111 shall not affect the amount of, or any rights or remedies for the recovery of, any costs recoverable from the client by, or payable to the client by, any other person, and that person may, unless he has otherwise agreed, require any costs payable or recoverable by him to or from the client to be taxed according to the rules for the time being in force for the taxation of those costs.| (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the client shall not be entitled to recover from any other person, under any order for the payment of any costs which are the subject of the agreement, more than the amount payable by the client to his own solicitor or law corporation under the agreement. [4/2000] |
| (3) Such an agreement shall be deemed to exclude any further claim of the solicitor or law corporation beyond the terms of agreement in respect of any services, fees, charges or disbursements in relation to the conduct and completion of the business in reference to which the agreement is made, except such services, fees, charges or disbursements (if any) as are expressly excepted by the agreement. [4/2000] |
| (4) Subject to the provisions of this Part, the costs of a solicitor or law corporation, in any case where there is such an agreement as is referred to in section 111, shall not be subject to taxation nor to the provisions of section 118. [4/2000] |
| (5) A provision in any such agreement that the solicitor or law corporation shall not be liable for negligence, or that he or the law corporation shall be relieved from any responsibility to which he or the law corporation would otherwise be subject as a solicitor or a law corporation, shall be wholly void. [4/2000] |
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| Enforcement of agreements |
113.—(1) No action or suit shall be brought or instituted upon any such agreement as is referred to in section 111.| (2) Every question respecting the validity or effect of the agreement may be examined and determined, and the agreement may be enforced or set aside without suit or action on the summons, motion or petition of any person or the representatives of any person, party to the agreement, or being or alleged to be liable to pay, or being or claiming to be entitled to be paid the costs, fees, charges or disbursements in respect of which the agreement is made, by the court in which the business or any part thereof was done or a Judge thereof, or, if the business was not done in any court, then by the High Court or a Judge thereof. [42/2005 wef 01/01/2006] |
| (3) Upon any such summons, motion or petition, if it appears to the court or Judge that the agreement is in all respects fair and reasonable between the parties, it may be enforced by the court or Judge by rule or order, in such manner and subject to such conditions (if any) as to the costs of the summons, motion or petition as the court or Judge thinks fit. [42/2005 wef 01/01/2006] |
| (4) If the terms of the agreement are deemed by the court or Judge to be unfair or unreasonable, the agreement may be declared void. |
| (5) The court or Judge may thereupon order the agreement to be given up to be cancelled, and may direct the costs, fees, charges and disbursements incurred or chargeable in respect of the matters included therein to be taxed, in the same manner and according to the same rules as if the agreement had not been made. |
| (6) The court or Judge may also make such order as to the costs of and relating to the summons, motion or petition and the proceedings thereon as the court or Judge thinks fit. [42/2005 wef 01/01/2006] |
| (7) When the amount agreed for under any such agreement has been paid by or on behalf of the client or by any person chargeable with or entitled to pay it, any court or Judge having jurisdiction to examine and enforce the agreement may, on application by the person who has paid the amount within 12 months after payment, if it appears to the court or Judge that the special circumstances of the case require the agreement to be reopened, reopen it, and order the costs, fees, charges and disbursements to be taxed, and the whole or any portion of the amount received by the solicitor or law corporation to be repaid by him, on such terms and conditions as to the court or Judge seems just. [41/2005 wef 04/12/2006] [4/2000] |
| (8) Where any such agreement is made by the client in the capacity of guardian or of trustee under a deed or will, or of committee of any person or persons whose estate or property will be chargeable with the amount payable under the agreement or with any part of that amount, the agreement shall before payment be laid before the Registrar, who shall examine it and disallow any part thereof, or may require the direction of the court or a Judge to be taken thereonby summons, motion or petition. |
| (9) If in any such case the client pays the whole or any part of the amount payable under the agreement without the previous allowance of the Registrar or court or Judge as aforesaid, he shall be liable at any time to account to the person whose estate or property is charged with the amount paid, or with any part thereof, for the amount so charged. |
| (10) The solicitor or law corporation who accepts the payment may be ordered by any court which would have had jurisdiction to enforce the agreement, if it thinks fit, to refund the amount received by him or the law corporation . [41/2005 wef 04/12/2006] [4/2000] |
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| Death or incapability of solicitor after agreement |
114.—(1) Where a solicitor has made an agreement with his client under section 111 and anything has been done by the solicitor under the agreement, and, before the agreement has been completely performed by him, the solicitor dies or becomes incapable to act, an application may be made to the court by any party thereto or by the representatives of that party.| (2) Where a law corporation has made an agreement with its client under section 111 and anything has been done by the law corporation or any of its directors or employees under the agreement, and, before the agreement has been completely performed by the law corporation or any of its directors or employees, the law corporation is wound up, an application may be made to the court by any party thereto or by the representatives of that party. [4/2000] |
| (3) The court shall thereupon have the same power to enforce or set aside the agreement, so far as it may have been acted upon, as if the death or incapacity had not happened. |
| (4) The court may, even if it thinks the agreement to be in all respects fair and reasonable, order the amount due in respect of the business done thereunder to be ascertained by taxation. |
| (5) The Registrar in ascertaining that amount shall have regard, so far as may be, to the terms of the agreement. |
| (6) Payment of the amount found to be due may be enforced in the same manner as if the agreement had been completely performed by the solicitor. |
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| Change of solicitor after agreement |
115.—(1) If, after an agreement under section 111 has been made, the client changes his solicitor before the conclusion of the business to which the agreement relates (which he may do notwithstanding the agreement) the solicitor who is a party to the agreement shall be deemed to have become incapable to act under it within the meaning of section 114.| (2) Upon any order being made for taxation of the amount due to that solicitor in respect of business done under the agreement, the court shall direct the Registrar to have regard to the circumstances under which the change of solicitor has taken place. |
| (3) Upon such taxation, the solicitor shall not be deemed to be entitled to the full amount of the remuneration agreed to be paid to him unless it appears that there has been no default, negligence, improper delay or other conduct on his part affording reasonable ground to the client for his change of solicitor. |
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