AG: Bar may have to raise fees

Attorney General Dale Marshall has warned that lawyers will have to start paying more to fund the growing costs of regulating the legal profession.

Speaking on Thursday at the opening of a two-day symposium on the draft Legal Profession Bill, Marshall said the Bar Association could no longer depend on outdated fee structures as new administrative responsibilities come into effect.

“Bar fees have gone unchanged for decades…. Young attorneys will pay $300 and silks, whether you consider yourself KC, SC or what, only pay $1 500,” he said.

“Speaking as a part of the executive, it will be difficult for us to ask the taxpayers to carry the administrative burden for these things that your professional organisation is going to have to grapple with. The time has come, perhaps, when you need to consider increasing the fees.”

He was responding to Law Reform Commission Chairman Sir David Simmons, who warned that parts of the new legislation, like accounting rules and mandatory continuing legal education, would come at a cost.

“It is clear from reading the Bill that it calls for a substantial increase in the administrative and regulatory obligations of the Bar,” Sir David said.

In his response, Marshall noted that while he is prepared to make a case for additional support to the Prime Minister, who heads the finance ministry, “the Bar is really going to have to look seriously at increasing its fees.”