THE BARRISTERS' AGITATION.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPRCTATOR."1
SIR,—I venture to think, from the general tone of your article of May 19th, on " The 'Barristers' Agitation," that you are under some misapprehension as to the quarter from which that movement sprang. Owing to the great recent encroachments of the lower branch of the profession on what used to be considered The peculiar sphere of the Junior Bar, some of that body were forced to the conclusion that they could no longer exist, under the restrictions which the rules of etiquette were understood to impose upon them. You may, however, have noticed that by a peculiar coincidence, if nothing more, there appeared in the Law Journal and other papers within a few days of the meeting to which you allude, the result of an inquiry, addressed to the Attorney- General, as to the extent of the rule of etiquette which prohibits barristers from doing work for outside clients for a fee without the intervention of a solicitor. The answer was that the rule only applies to contentious business, after litigation has begun ; in other words, that the entire department of conveyancing proper, the drawing of wills, settlements, and agreements, and ad- vising on the case, are within the legitimate province of a barrister, without any necessity for employing a solicitor as an intermediary. To give you some idea of the immense saving which the public would effect by :availing themselves of the opportunity thus afforded, in all cases not requiling much pre- liminary investigation, I will refer to the simple instance of a marriage settlement of £10,000 Consols. The ad valorem stale suggested by the Council of the Incorporated Law Society, and which presumably represents the charge of the most respect.. able firms, fixes the remuneration of the lady's solicitor in this case at £60, and of the gentleman's at £30, this being exclusive of stamps, counsel's fees, and certain extra expenses. Now, if a barrister were employed direct, instead of a solicitor, his fee for drawing the settlement would be about £6 6s., the cost of engrossing, and other out-of-pocket expenses, would not exceed £8 8s., and allowing £10 for conferences and correspondence, the total cost would amount to about £25, or say 230, if the draft were perused by another counsel on behalf of the husband, being a net saving of £60. I need scarcely insist on the addi- tional security which would result from resorting to that branch of the profession which is specially qualified for the purpose by study and education, instead of trusting entirely to the solicitor, whose sphere embraces so many other and complex operations.
It is only by insisting on the maintenance of the old supposed rule of etiquette that Solicitors can enforce their monopoly, and keep the scale of fees in non-contentious business at its present exorbitant pitch ; and the public must decide for themselves whether they will acquiesce in this monopoly, or will avail themselves of the services of Barristers, whom the recent declara- tion of the Attorney-General has relieved from all further scruples of etiquette on this point.—I am, Sir, &c.,
A MEMBER OF THE JUNIOR BAR.
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