Results 8,141-8,160 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Bill allows for the introduction of a range of new business models. These include legal partnerships which are partnerships between solicitors and barristers or between barristers only and multidisciplinary practices and which allow for the provision of legal and other services by one firm. As a result of amendment No. 99 and other amendments tabled, the Bill will provide for the...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Which amendment is the Senator referring to?

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This essentially states that one cannot be a partner in a multidisciplinary partnership if one is unqualified which is defined elsewhere.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I understand why the Senator raises this, but subsections (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of the section outline the circumstances in which somebody who was a solicitor now comes under the term "unqualified person" under the Solicitors Act because they had been struck off the Roll of Solicitors, been suspended from practise, had the issue of a practising certificate to him or her refused under...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: In terms of definition, that word has been there since 1954 and there is precedent in that regard. It is the definition in the Solicitors Acts. We are amending those Acts but there is no information available to me that it has led to any problems. I will check it out, but I do not believe it has.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yes.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is just a technical description.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Amendment No. 112 obliges the managing legal partner in a multidisciplinary practice to manage the practice in such a way as to ensure that the provision of legal services is in accordance with the provisions of the Bill and adheres to the professional principles set out in the Bill. Amendment No. 113 places positive obligations on the managing legal partner to ensure this happens.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The managing legal partner will manage the legal services.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yes, on the legal side.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: If I accepted the new subsection proposed by Senator Barrett in amendment No. 114 it would create confusion about the letter of engagement, which is intended to clearly delineate for a customer which services are being provided by a legal practitioner in a multidisciplinary practice by making it simultaneously a bill of costs. This would clash with the extensive legal costs transparency...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I will accept the word "shall" in a later amendment. That is not a problem.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is a technical amendment reflecting that we now have the Court of Appeal so the references to the Supreme Court are changed to references to the Court of Appeal.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I believe there will be sufficient leeway afforded by the current provisions for this and many other relevant aspects to be raised and taken into account in the reviews.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am concerned that this amendment would compound the burdens of reviewing and reporting of the new authority in its first year of operations. We have put considerable thought into this and I have made some changes to it, as the Senator knows. It has been carefully laid out and sequenced under the Bill so as to make them realisable within achievable timeframes. I do not want to upset that...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Amendments No. 125 relates to the insertion of a new Chapter 3 of Part 8. The new Chapter provides for the introduction of an option for solicitors firms and legal partnerships to operate with the benefits of limited liability within a limited liability partnership business model with protection for the consumer in the form of both professional indemnity insurance and ongoing regulatory...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I will have that provision looked at again in case there are any unintended consequences. I will come back on Report Stage.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: With this amendment, the Senator wishes to remove a basic principle of the Bill whereby legal costs are prohibited from being expressed as a specific percentage or proportion of damages or other moneys payable to a client. The Senator mentioned this earlier. That would be the impact of this amendment so I cannot accept it.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: We want to make sure the explanation that has to be provided for a client of the procedures available to deal with a dispute about legal costs will have to be in writing. As I accept the Senator's point that it might be somewhat ambiguous, I will also look at that issue.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The only point I make in that regard is that it would have implications for other periods of time that will apply under the Bill in relation to legal costs and where they are in dispute. I am taking all timeframes into account. I will consider the 14 day period and see whether it is feasible to make it a little longer without impacting too much on the other carefully calibrated sections in...