Tag Archives: Lawyer Fees

Law Society says all fees should be freely negotiated

The Law Society has scrapped its fee guidelines for conveyancing transactions six-and- a-half years after they were introduced.

The guidelines were issued in February 2003 after fixed scale fees were scrapped, to give lawyers some idea of the fair and reasonable fee to charge for conveyancing.

Yesterday, the Council of the Law Society said that as part of an ongoing review, the guidelines will be removed from Oct 1.

That is because they were intended as a transitional measure for lawyers after the abolishment of fixed fees, the Law Society said.

‘The Council believes that all fees should be freely negotiated between solicitors and their clients without guidelines from the Council (other than statutory guidelines).’ There was no reason to treat conveyancing fees differently, the society said in a statement.

Gan Hiang Chye of Rajah & Tann said that ‘by now lawyers have got a keen sense of conveyancing fees and of what is proper to charge. So we don’t actually need the guidelines any more,’ he said.

The Law Society said that despite the scrapping of the guidelines, lawyers still have an obligation to charge fairly and are prohibited from overcharging. Continue reading →

THE lid has come off on how much lawyers should charge in property deals.

The Law Society yesterday said it will remove a controversial set of fee guidelines for conveyancing lawyers that was implemented six years ago.

A statement issued yesterday by the society, which represents all practising lawyers in Singapore, said lawyers should be free to negotiate fees with their clients. The removal of these guidelines will take effect from Oct 1 and will apply to all property deals signed after that.

The Law Society said the guidelines were meant as a ‘transitional measure’ and, after an ongoing review, its council decided to scrap them. Its statement also reminded lawyers that they have a ‘fundamental ethical obligation’ not to overcharge.

Back in 2003, the Law Society removed a fixed-fee structure that put a cap on what lawyers could charge their clients for property deals.

Instead, it put in place fee guidelines because many firms were undercutting one another by offering rock-bottom fees in order to secure clients.

The society felt then that the low fees, combined with a heavy case load, would lead to lawyers cutting corners and making mistakes, leaving the legal profession open to more complaints. Continue reading →