Advisory committee appointed to investigate legal fees

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More specifically and as required by the Legal Practice Act, 2014, the committee will investigate and make recommendations on:

• The circumstances that give rise to legal fees that are beyond the affordability of most people;
• Legislative and other interventions in order to improve access to justice by members of the public;
• The desirability of establishing a mechanism for determining fees and tariffs payable to legal practitioners, the composition of such a mechanism and the process it would follow in determining fees or tariffs;
• The desirability of giving clients the option of negotiating fees with senior legal practitioners such as advocates;
• The feasibility of determining the total cost of matters before the commencement of the brief; and
• The use of contingency fee arrangements in the promotion (or otherwise) of access to justice.

The committee will commence with its work immediately and report to the minister within 24 months.

In conducting its work, the committee will consider, among other factors, public interest, international best practice and the interest of the legal profession.

The South African Law Reform Commission will also convene an international conference on legal fees in Durban from October 31 to 2 November later this year.

The committee comprises the following members:
Rochelle Francis-Subbiah, magistrate, Pretoria Magistrate Court
Fawzia Cassim, former associate professor, Department of Criminal and Civil Procedure, Unisa
Willem Henrik Gravett, senior lecturer, Department of Procedural Law, University of Pretoria
Vela Mdaka, regional operations executive, Legal Aid South Africa
Thobeka Nkabinde, Office of the Chief Litigation Officer, Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
Trudy Zeelie, registrar and taxing master, Office of the Chief Justice, High Court of South Africa
Morne Oosthuizen, deputy director. Development Policy Research Unit, University of Cape Town.

“The advisory committee is part of a series of measures that government is continuing to take to ensure access to justice for all,” Masutha said.