LSB reads riot act to in-house attorneys

In a memo written to all practitioners LSB says the Legal Practitioners Act (LPA) provides that it is a misconduct for an attorney to assist in any way a non-attorney to charge, recover or receive a fee or derive any remuneration for performance of a legal service. “In this regard, Council specifically notes that the problem at hand was prevalent in the legal insurance and lending sectors.

“In respect of the legal insurance industry, in-house attorneys employed thereat, do not only assess viability of claims and prospects of success, but routinely proceed to provide the legal service required by the insured,” reads the memo. Regarding the lenders, it says in-house attorneys as a matter of course prepare and register mortgage bonds on the pretext that the bonds are required by and in favour of the lender (the employer) and therefore they are doing work for the employer and not a third party.