49. A member shall:
| 49.1 |
refrain from accepting from any person directly or indirectly any sum of money which it is agreed or intended should be used as payment or part payment for services to be rendered or for disbursements to be made in the future in the event of any future act or omission forming the basis of any criminal charge against the person by or for whose benefit such payment was made; |
| 49.2 |
issue and, on request, hand over or otherwise deliver to the person making payment, a receipt for any money received; |
| 49.3 |
exercise proper control and supervision over his or her staff and offices. |
| 49.4 |
not abandon his or her practice, or shall not close his or her practice, without previous notice to his or her clients and without arranging with them for the dispatch of their business or the care of their property in his or her possession or under his or her control; |
| 49.5 |
if he or she is practising as a sole practitioner, and intends to be absent from his or her practice for a period in excess of 21 working days, give notice to the society at least 30 days prior to his departure of the arrangements which he or she has made for the supervision of the practice during his or her absence. The member may, in the case of urgency only, give the society a shorter period of notice. In the notice the member must inform the society: |
| 49.5.1 |
which other member will be supervising his or her practice; |
| 49.5.2 |
the extent of the supervision which the other member will exercise; |
| 49.5.3 |
what arrangements he or she has made for the signing of his or her business and trust cheques; and |
| 49.5.4 |
the reason for the late notice, if applicable. |
This rule 49.5 applies to members who practise as partners or directors of a firm where all the partners or directors intend to be absent simultaneously from the firm for a period in excess of 21 working days.
| 49.6 |
not overreach a client or overcharge the debtor of a client, or charge a fee which is unreasonably high, having regard to the circumstances of the matter; |
| 49.7 |
submit an account for taxation or assessment, as the case may be, within a reasonable time after a request to do so by the Council, the client or the person purportedly liable for payment of the fee; |
| 49.8 |
not act for or in association with any organisation or person, not being a practising practitioner, whose business or part of whose business it is to solicit instructions for the practitioner; |
| 49.9 |
not buy instructions in matters from a third party and may not, directly or indirectly, pay or reward a third party, or give any other consideration for the referral of clients other than an allowance on fees to a practising attorney for the referral of work; |
| 49.10 |
use the services of a third party (including for the purpose of gathering evidence) only where the member has established a bona fide attorney and client relationship with the client, such that: |
| 49.10.1 |
the client is free to elect whether or not to use the services of the third party; |
| 49.10.2 |
the member takes proper instructions directly from the client; |
| 49.10.3 |
the member is mandated to engage the third party at the client's cost; |
in which event the member may issue an instruction to a third party whom the member considers will be competent to do specific work and the member may, on the client's behalf, pay to the third party a fair and reasonable fee, consistent with the value of the work actually done by the third party.
| 49.11 |
when using the services of a consultant, render an account to the client, disclosing the payment to the third party as a disbursement; |
| 49.12 |
not accept a mandate, knowing there to be an existing mandate, or a freshly terminated mandate, given to another attorney without explaining to the client all the implications, of his doing so, including in particular the cost implications; |
| 49.13 |
perform professional work or work of a kind commonly performed by a practitioner with such a degree of skill, care or attention, or of such a quality or standard, as in the opinion of the Council may reasonably be expected; |
| 49.14 |
in any communication with another person on behalf of a client: |
| 49.14.1 |
not represent to that person that anything is true which the member knows, or reasonably ought to know, or reasonably believes, is untrue; or |
| 49.14.2 |
not make any statement that is calculated to mislead or intimidate that other person, and which materially exceeds the legitimate assertion of the rights or entitlement of the member's client; or |
| 49.14.3 |
not threaten the institution of criminal proceedings against that other person in default of that person's satisfying a concurrent civil liability to the member's client; or |
| 49.14.4 |
not demand the payment of any costs to the member in the absence of an existing liability therefor owed by the person to the member's client; |
| 49.15 |
be in attendance during a consultation with counsel or an attorney acting as counsel, or at court during the hearing of a matter (other than an unopposed application) in which he or she is the attorney of record, in person or through a partner or employee, being a member or a candidate attorney; |
| 49.16 |
take all such steps as may be necessary from time to time to ensure compliance at all times as an accountable institution with the requirements of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 38 of 2001; |
| 49.17 |
not tout for professional work. A member will be regarded as being guilty of touting for professional work if he or she either personally or through the agency of another, procures or seeks to procure, or solicits for, professional work in an improper or unprofessional manner or by unfair means, all of which for purposes of this rule will include, but not be limited to: |
| 49.17.1 |
the payment of money, or the offering of any financial reward or other inducement of any kind whatsoever, directly or indirectly, to any person, in return for the referral of professional work; or |
| 49.17.2 |
directly or indirectly participating in an arrangement or scheme of operation resulting in, or calculated to result in, the member's securing professional work solicited by a third party. |
For purposes of this rule 49.17 "professional work", in addition to work which may by law or regulation promulgated under any law be performed only by a practitioner, means such other work as is properly or commonly performed by or associated with the practice of a practitioner.
Public Service Commission Act, 1997
