WHAT HIGH FEES? LAWYERS ASK MPS

MBABANE – The Law Society of Swaziland has condemned Members of Parliament (mps) for accusing lawyers of charging exorbitant fees.

This follows a submission which the legislators made to the effect that the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs should speed up the process of enacting a law that will regulate lawyers. The submission was raised during the House of Assembly portfolio committee debate of the ministry on Monday.
According to the MPs, lawyers were guilty of charging citizens exorbitant fees whenever they opened cases with them.

The MPs said they were concerned that there were many Swazis who had lost a lot of money after opening cases.
Responding to the accusations, Secretary of the Law Society of Swaziland Bhanyaza Mdluli said it was not fair for MPs to accuse them of charging high fees as they were guided by rules and regulations. He mentioned that there was a Legal Practitioners’ Act and By-Laws of the Law Society, which provided guidelines on the operations of lawyers including the fees that they were supposed to charge clients.

“It is totally wrong to say that lawyers charge high fees because the cases are determined by their seriousness and importance. There is also the experience of that particular lawyer, which is also considered. The accusation makes us wonder if the MPs are just trying to be relevant since elections are drawing closer,” said Mdluli.

He made reference to the by-laws, which stipulate considerations for charging fees according to the importance of the matter, quality of work done, experience and seniority of the lawyer.
The legal document further highlights that in order to afford the lawyer reasonable and adequate remuneration for the services rendered, it shall take cognisance of the amount of work done, complexity of the matter or the difficulty of questions raised, skill and labour involved plus the place where the circumstances in which the services were rendered.

Mdluli acknowledged that there had been cases of lawyers who treated their clients unfairly but said it was not fair to then generalise and judge all of them.
“Just like there are MPs who commit crimes, there are lawyers who engage in malpractice but you cannot then generalise and make such blatant accusations, so I do not think the MPs know what they are talking about,” Mdluli said.
He emphasised that the legal documents that guided lawyers were in Parliament and said MPs were supposed to know them better and further emphasised that there was a fees committee, which dealt with matters where clients could lodge complaints whenever they felt that they were overcharged.

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