In light of the recent disclosure of fees paid as briefs to lawyers from the AG's Office over the last four years or so, it might be prudent that the Law Association and its new President provide some guidance on this matter.The Legal Profession Act (No 21 of 1986) recommends that the Law Association makes payment scales.Can these scales be made public so that everyone can be aware of what the likely legal fees may be in the event that they need to access an attorney's services?
It will be interesting to see what are the suggested fees for some of the matters that briefs were given in the recent disclosures–if the Law Association does in fact have such scales for such matters. If not, I wonder why?It is also noteworthy that international institutions like the World Bank, IMF, UN, etc, have standard fees for consultancies based on the experience and qualifications of the consultant, the estimated duration of the work to be done, etc.
So, I am expecting that for public money, there should be similar scales. After all, there are salary scales throughout the public and private sectors.Anything less, is utterly shameful. Or, was this gate left wide open?
Kevin Ram
Via e-mail