WORD OF ADVICE: I know 80% of our
audience dislike Mathematics, you need to appreciate it at this point, because
if you don’t you will find this area of law boring and difficult and that the
first step to failure. BREAKING NEWS;
THIS AREA ALWAYS COME OUT IN BAR FINAL!!!! SO LOVE IT AND PRACTICE IT.
BILL
OF CHARGES
GROUND RULE: The Professional fee charged by a
lawyer for his service shall be reasonable
and commensurate with the service rendered. The lawyer
shall not charge fees which
are excessive or so low to amount to understand. However, you may charge a reduced fee or
no fee at all on the ground of the special relationship or indigence of the
client.
In determining
our legal fees we must take into account the following considerations to
ascertain the value of the service rendered;
a)
The
time and labour required, the novelty and difficult of the questions involved
and the skill required to conduct the cause properly
b)
Whether
the acceptance of employment in the particular case will preclude the lawyer’s
appearance for other cases
c)
Whether
the acceptance of the employment will involve the loss of other employment
d)
The
customary charges of the Bar for similar services
e)
The
amount involved in controversy and the benefits resulting to the client from
the services
f)
The
contingency or the certainty of the compensation
g)
The
character of the employment, whether casual or for an established or constant
client.
SEE RULE 52
RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
SO,
For the purpose of property transaction, charges will be based on;
a)
Sale
of land
b)
Lease
c)
Mortgage
d)
Legal
documentation. Etc
MODE
OF CHARGING
a) Consultation
fee
b)
Gearing
c)
Quantum
Merut
d)
Scale
Fee
e)
Fixed
fee
f)
Hourly
rate fee
g)
Appearance
fee
h)
Contigent
fee
i)
Percentage
fee
N.B: AS A LEGAL PRACTITIONER YOU
CANNOT GIVE QUOTATION AND DO
NOT AGREE TO A SALARY STRUCTURE.
SUING
FOR FEES
Imagine after
studying for five years and coming to law school for a year, buying expensive
textbooks, closing lecture at around 4pm, writing an almighty bar exam and
finally called to Bar…..then one MR BAD BELLE will want to run away with our
fee after engaging our service, my
bro kolwerk!!!!!!
RULE: This right is to be exercised
carefully. In SECTION 16 OF LEGAL
PRACTITIONERS ACT, provides for recovery of charges, SECTION 16(1);
‘’Subject to the provisions of the
act, a legal practitioner shall be entitled to recover his charges by action in
any court of competent jurisdiction’’ (STATE HIGH COURT)
HOWEVER, certain conditions must have been
fulfilled before you bring an action;
a)
He
must prepare a bill of charge with the bill of charges which should set out the
particulars of his claim
b)
He
must serve his client with the bill of charges personally or left for him at
his last address or sent by post
c)
He
must allow a period of one month to elapse from the date the bill was served
before the action is commenced………..see
SECTION 16(2)LPA
N.B:
Assuming you entered a contract with Mr A that you would help him to sell a
piece of land for #50,000,000 and he will give you 10%, you successfully sold
the land and he now refuse to give you your fee of 10%, because he felt you too
young to handle that money.
This is
clear case of breach of contract which you could go straight to court to
institute but no you can’t, so as long as the cause of action is a breach of
contract in relation to RECOVERY OF
PROFESSIONAL FEES, you must fulfill the provision of SECTION 16(2) LPA
The law
is that we are to wait for one month, chaiii!!!....well there are circumstances
which may make the court abridge the period of one month for the commencement
of action against client;
a)
the
solicitor has delivered a bill of charge to the client
b)
on
the face of it the charge appear to be proper in the circumstances
c)
there
exist circumstances indicating that the client is about to do some act which
would probably prevent or delay the payment to the legal practitioner of the
charges.
CONTENT
OF A BILL OF CHARGE
OYEKANMI V
NEPA(2000)15NWLR (PT 690)414
It must
be in writing and must contain;
a)
The
bill should be headed to reflect the subject matter.
b)
Be
addressed to the client - name of client
c)
Particularization
of the charges, date and amount or particulars of principal items
d)
It
must be dated
e)
It
must contain the name of the legal practitioner and his signature
f)
It
must contain your account number.
LEGAL PRACTITIONER
(REMUNERATION FOR LEGAL DOCUMENTATION AND OTHER LAND MATTERS ORDER) 1991
This
deals with the remuneration of a legal practitioner in respect of business
connected with any sale, purchase, lease, mortgage and other matter of legal
documentation.
THE ORDER
IS DIVIDED INTO THREE SCALES:
a)
SCALE
1- Sale or purchase of land and mortgage transaction
b) SCALE
II- Lease or agreement to lease at a rent
c)
SCALE
III- Business that is not contentious.
HOWEVER,
note that transaction in SCALE I & II can be calculated with SCALE III but
the legal practitioner must adhere to SECTION 5 of the order that provides
that;
‘’….before undertaking any business, the
legal practitioner shall by writing communicate to his client that his remuneration
shall be in accordance with the provision of SCALE III’’
GROUND
RULE: the calculation of professional fees in property transaction depends on
who engages the legal practitioner and the kind of transaction is meant to
carry out for the client
SCALE
I
Scales
I deal with charges on sales, purchases and mortgages. Scale I is further
divided into three parts. All the rules applicable to scale I is contained in
part III. In part III, while parts I and III of the scale contains schedule of
fees chargeable by a legal practitioner for specific transaction.
PART 1
In
part I, there are five columns and there are nine transactions. In calculating,
legal practitioner's fees under part I of scale I, there are five stages to go
through
- Step I - the first N1000 per 100
- Step II - second and third N1000 per 100
- Step III - fourth to twentieth N1000 per 100
- Step IV - remainder without limit per N100
- Step V - addition of everything
COMPUTATION
IS AS FOLLOWS;
STEP
I
1000/100
* SCALE/1 (* is Multiplication, SCALE is the number given in the columns)
STEP
II
2000/100
* SCALE/1
STEP
III
17000/100
* SCALE/1
STEP
IV
2000-CONSIDERATION/100
* SCALE/1 (Consideration is the amount given in the scenario, N.B if it is a
mortgage, it will be the Loan money and not value of the property……But if it is
Sale of Land, it will be the Value of the property)
STEP V
ADD
ALL THE ANSWERS YOU GET FROM ABOVE TOGETHER.
THEREFORE,
1)
Where
the legal practitioner is acting for both the Mortgagor and Mortgagee, he is
entitled to the full fees of the Mortgagee Solicitor fee and Half of the
Mortgagor’s solicitor fees
2)
Where
it is a sale of land transaction, he is entitled to full fees of the Vendor
solicitor fees and full fees of the purchaser solicitor fees
N.B: You must show your calculation in
the exam, step by step. Put it in your mind that when you see a transaction
bothering on Sale of Land, Purchases and Mortgages, you will be dealing with THOUSANDS
SCALE
II
Scale II
deals with leases. The lessee's legal practitioner gets half of the amount
payable to the lessor's legal practitioner. Where a legal practitioner acts for
both lessor and lessee, he shall charge the lessor's legal practitioner's
charge and one half of those of the lessee's legal practitioner. It would be -
lessor's full fees and lessor's fees divided by four.
WHERE
THE RENT EXCEEDS #1,000…CALCULATION
- Step I - N37.50 in respect of first N100
- Step II - N25 in respect of each N100 of rent up to N1000
- Step III - N12.50 in respect of every subsequent N100
COMPUTATION
STEP I
100/100
* 37.50
STEP II
900/100
* 25
STEP III
1000-RENT
PAID/100 * 12.50
RULE:
Where the legal practitioner acts for the Lessor and Lessee, he shall be
entitled to full payment of lessor and half of what the lessee should get.
TO BE CONTINUED (TAXATION OF CHARGES)......
LET THE CALCULATION START.....THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!!!
N.B: Do you have an academic write up for the purpose of BAR PART II send to our email (solaope2020@gmail.com) we will publish it, accompany it with your full name and campus.
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