The Law Society has said it will continue to "engage positively" in the process of reforming how legal costs are calculated, following the publication of a report on the issue today.
Solicitors and barristers would be forced to charge hourly and daily rates under new legislation to be drafted by Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, following the publication of the report of the Legal Costs Implementation Advisory Group.
Law Society statement
The new system would see the abolition of barristers' "brief fees" and solicitors' "instruction fees".
Responding to the report, the Law Society, which is the regulatory and representative body for solicitors, said the report is consistent with the recommendations of the Legal Costs Working Group, chaired by Paul Haran, which was published by the Government in January 2006.
"What has occurred today, therefore, is simply a further step on a process of reform," the body said in a statement.
"The Tánaiste announced that the next steps will be (a) to establish the recommended Legal Costs Regulatory Body on an interim basis and (b) to commence work to draft the necessary legislation to provide for the new costs regime. In response to a question today he said he did not expect draft legislation to be produced before the end of this year.
"The Law Society has said throughout this review process that it believes in fundamental reform of the taxation of costs system to make it modern, easy to understand and predictable."
The body said an issue of "at least equal importance" is the issue of delay and inefficiency in the courts system.
"Accordingly, we particularly welcome the Tanaiste's announcement today that the Government is moving to appoint as many as seventeen new judges to address the problem of delay. If delays and inefficiency in the courts system are reduced then costs will be reduced," the statement said.
"The other fundamental principle of any reform, as far as the Law Society is concerned, is that civil litigation represents a vital part of the administration of justice. The right to legal representation and the lawyer/client relationship exist in the common good to guarantee equality of arms and ensure the maintenance of fairness between the strong and the weak. Reform must not benefit the strong against the weak or otherwise reduce access to justice."
President of the Law Society Philip Joyce said the society "will continue to engage positively in this reform process".
The society's Legal Costs Task Force and professional advisors will now study in depth the contents and the implications of the report.
The Legal Costs Implementation Advisory Group (IAG) report recommended that a body to regulate legal costs be established as soon as possible.
That body would set guidelines governing legal charges, and the current practice by solicitors and barristers of charging "global" fees such as brief fees and instruction fees would be abolished.
Mr McDowell said today he believed there was a "public appetite" for reform of the legal costs regime.
"I have no doubt that, once the new costs arrangements have been put in place, the market for civil legal services will become more predictable, consistent and transparent for consumers," Mr McDowell said.
He said consumers should be able "to see exactly what they are letting themselves in for" when they become involved in litigation.
He said he believed the new measures should tend to bring legal costs down. Currently, once a consumer enters into an agreement with a solicitor or barrister, the "brief" or "instruction" fee must be paid regardless of whether a case is settled "twenty seconds after the ink is dry", Mr McDowell said.
The Tánaiste will now establish the legal costs regulatory body on an interim basis pending enactment of legislation, which he said he expected to be finalised towards the end of the year.
"This report will be acted on. It will not be left on the shelf," Mr McDowell said. He said today's announcement complements the establishment of the Legal Services Ombudsman to provide for independent, statute-based supervision of the complaints schemes of both solicitors and barristers.
The IAG, which was chaired by accountant Desmond Miller, was established by the Minister in 2006 to examine the recommendations of the report of the Legal Costs Working Group and consult the professional legal bodies as to how they might best be acted on.