§ 73. Sir BERTRAM FALLEasked the Attorney-General whether, for the greater protection of the public against losses through fraudulent conversion of clients' property by solicitors, he will review the annual grant of £2,500 made to the Law Society under a Resolution of the House of Commons, dated 11th May, 1897, towards the expenses of the Law Society in carrying out disciplinary duties laid upon it by the Solicitors Act, and transfer, by amendment of the Act, all such disciplinary duties to the Department of the Lord Chancellor?
§ The ATTORNEY-GENERAL (Sir William Jowitt)I have consulted my right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor on this matter and concur with him in the 35 view that it is in the highest degree desirable that the disciplinary duties laid upon the Law Society should continue to be discharged by the profession itself. I am satisfied that the present system is the best method of dealing with improper conduct on the part of solicitors, and that the Law Society has deserved the thanks of the public for the manner in which it has discharged its statutory duties. The question what precautionary steps should be taken to guard against misappropriation by solicitors is a separate question whose consideration by the Law Society is in an advanced state.