Singapore legislation
Section 108
Section 108
Orders as to remuneration of solicitors, law corporations or limited liability law partnerships for non-contentious business
(1)
For the purposes of this section, there is to be a committee consisting of the following persons:
the Chief Justice;
the Attorney-General;
the president of the Society; and
2 solicitors nominated by the Council.
(2)
The committee or any 4 of the members thereof (the Chief Justice being one) may make general orders prescribing and regulating in such manner as they think fit the remuneration of solicitors or law corporations or limited liability law partnerships in respect of non‑contentious business; and any order made under this section may revoke or alter any previous order so made.
(3)
An order made under this section may, as regards the mode of remuneration, prescribe that it is according to a scale of rates of commission or percentage, varying or not in different classes of business, or by a gross sum, or by a fixed sum for each document prepared or perused, without regard to length, or in any other mode, or partly in one mode and partly in another, and may regulate the amount of remuneration with reference to all or any of the following, among other, considerations:
the position of the party for whom the solicitor or law corporation or limited liability law partnership is concerned in the business, that is, whether as vendor or purchaser, lessor or lessee, mortgagor or mortgagee, and the like;
the place where, and the circumstances in which, the business or any part thereof is transacted;
the amount of the capital money or rent to which the business relates;
the skill, labour and responsibility involved therein on the part of the solicitor or law corporation or limited liability law partnership; and
the number and importance of the documents prepared or perused, without regard to length.
(4)
An order made under this section may authorise and regulate —
the taking by a solicitor, law corporation or limited liability law partnership from a client of security for payment of any remuneration, to be ascertained by taxation or otherwise, which may become due to the solicitor, law corporation or limited liability law partnership under any such order; and
the allowance of interest.
(5)
So long as an order made under this section is in operation, taxation of bills of costs of solicitors or law corporations or limited liability law partnerships in respect of non‑contentious business must, subject to section 109, be regulated by that order.
(6)
Every order made under this section must be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette.