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36 1954

SOLICITORS ACT, 1954

PART VI.

Practice.

Qualifications for acting as solicitor.

54. —(1) A solicitor who has the qualifications specified in subsection (2) of this section may act as a solicitor and is referred to in this Act as a solicitor qualified to practise.

(2) The qualifications referred to in subsection (1) of this section are:—

(a) that the name of the solicitor is on the roll;

(b) that he does not stand suspended from practice; and

(c) that either he is a solicitor in the full-time service of the State or a practising certificate in respect of him is in force.

(3) A solicitor shall be regarded as a solicitor in the full-time service of the State if and while he is required to devote the whole of his time to the service of the State as solicitor and is remunerated in respect of such service wholly out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Prohibition on unqualified person acting as solicitor.

55. —(1) An unqualified person shall not act as a solicitor.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section shall, without prejudice to any other liability or disability to which he may be subject, be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable—

(a) on conviction thereof on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or, at the discretion of the Court, to a fine not exceeding two hundred pounds or to both such fine and such imprisonment, or

(b) on summary conviction thereof, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or, at the discretion of the Court, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section in relation to a court of justice shall also be guilty of contempt of that court and shall be punishable accordingly.

Prohibition on pretending to be solicitor.

56. —(1) A person who is not a solicitor shall not pretend to be a solicitor or take or use any name, title, addition or description or make any representation or demand implying that he is a solicitor.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Costs not recoverable where solicitor acts while not qualified to practise.

57. —(1) Where a solicitor acts as a solicitor while he is not a solicitor qualified to practise, costs in respect of anything done by such solicitor so acting shall not be recoverable in any action, suit or matter by such solicitor or any person claiming through or under him.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall affect any indemnity which a client of a solicitor has under an order of any court in respect of costs awarded under the order, to the extent (if any) to which the client may have paid such costs to the solicitor at the date of the order.

Restriction on drawing documents, etc.

58. —(1) This section applies to the following acts:

(a) the drawing or preparing of a document relating to real or personal estate or any legal proceeding,

(b) the procuring or attempting to procure the execution by an Irish citizen of a document relating to—

(i) real or personal estate, or movable or immovable property, situate or being outside the State and the United Kingdom, or

(ii) any legal proceeding, actual or in contemplation, of which the subject-matter is any such estate or property,

(c) the making of an application, or the lodging of a document for registration, under the Registration of Title Act, 1891, or any Act amending that Act, at the Land Registry or to or with a local registering authority,

(d) the taking of instructions for, or drawing or preparing of, documents on which to found or oppose a grant of probate or letters of administration.

(2) An unqualified person who does an act to which this section applies shall, subject to subsection (3) of this section and without prejudice to any other liability or disability to which he may be subject, be guilty of an offence under this section and be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

(3) The following acts shall be excepted from the foregoing provisions of this section—

(a) an act not done either directly or indirectly for or in expectation of any fee, gain or reward,

(b) an act done by a practising barrister,

(c) an act done by any public officer in the course of his duty,

(d) an act done by a duly accredited diplomatic or consular officer of another State in the course of his duty,

(e) an act done by a notary public as such,

(f) an act consisting merely of engrossing a document,

(g) an act done by a person in the employment of a practising barrister or a solicitor qualified to practise and while acting in the course of such employment by the direction and under the supervision of his employer.

(4) In this section, the word “document” includes a document under seal and a document not under seal, but does not include—

(a) a letter or power of attorney exclusively for the sale or transfer of stocks, shares, bonds, debentures or other stock exchange securities,

(b) a transfer of stocks, shares, bonds, debentures or other stock exchange securities containing no trust or limitation thereof,

(c) a purely banking document, or

(d) a purely commercial or mercantile document.

Prohibition on solicitor acting as agent for unqualified person.

59. —(1) A solicitor shall not wilfully—

(a) act, in business carried on by him as a solicitor, as agent for an unqualified person so as to enable that person to act as a solicitor,

(b) permit his name to be made use of, in business carried on by him as a solicitor, upon the account, or for the profit of, an unqualified person, or

(c) do an act enabling an unqualified person to act as a solicitor.

(2) This section shall have effect subject to the provisions of this Act and to any exceptions that may be made by regulations under section 71 of this Act.

Restriction on employment of person struck off roll or suspended.

60. —(1) A solicitor shall not, save under and in accordance with a written permission under this section, employ or remunerate, in connection with his practice as a solicitor, a person who to his knowledge is an unqualified person by reason of the striking off the roll of such person's name, the suspension of such person from practice or the suspension of his practising certificate.

(2) The Society may grant a permission for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section for such period and subject to such conditions as they think fit.

(3) A solicitor aggrieved by the refusal of the Society to grant a permission under this section, or by any conditions attached by the Society to the grant thereof, may appeal to the Chief Justice, and the Chief Justice may confirm the refusal or conditions, as the case may be, or may grant the permission for such period and subject to such conditions as he thinks fit.

Carrying on of practice in case of death or disability.

61. —(1) Where a solicitor dies, his personal representatives may appoint a solicitor to carry on the practice of the deceased solicitor for such period and on such terms as the Society may approve of.

(2) Where a solicitor becomes of unsound mind or incapable of managing his own affairs, the President of the High Court may, on the application of the Society or the committee of his estate, appoint a solicitor to carry on the practice of the solicitor for such period and on such terms as the President of the High Court may approve of.

(3) Where a solicitor is adjudicated a bankrupt, the court by whom he is adjudicated a bankrupt may appoint a solicitor to carry on the practice of the solicitor for such period and on such terms as that court may approve of.

Prohibition with respect to introduction of business.

62. —(1) A solicitor shall not reward, or agree to reward, an unqualified person for legal business introduced by such person to the solicitor.

(2) An agreement in contravention of this section shall be void.

(3) This section shall have effect subject to the provisions of this Act and to any exceptions that may be made by regulations under section 71 of this Act.

Disclosure of having been struck off roll, etc.

63. —(1) A person who is an unqualified person, by reason of the striking off the roll of his name, his suspension from practice or the suspension of his practising certificate, shall not seek or accept employment by a solicitor in connection with the solicitor's practice without previously informing the solicitor that he is such an unqualified person.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Bodies corporate.

64. —(1) A body corporate or director, officer or servant thereof shall not do any act of such nature or in such manner as to imply that the body corporate is qualified, or recognised by law as qualified, to act as a solicitor.

(2) Where there is a contravention of subsection (1) of this section, the body corporate shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds and, where the act was done by a director, officer or servant of the body corporate, he also shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

(3) In sections 55 , 58 and 59 of this Act, references to unqualified persons, and references to persons, include references to bodies corporate.

Right of audience in certain cases.

65. —Where a solicitor enters an appearance or is acting generally for a party in an action, suit, matter or criminal proceedings, a solicitor qualified to practise who is acting as his assistant shall have a right of audience therein in any court or tribunal in which the first-mentioned solicitor has a right of audience.