PROFESSIONAL

PRACTICE I
LAW4510
Topic 6
Law Firm:
Conduct of Conveyancing PracFce
 Conveyancing PracFce Rulings 1997
•  PART I : ADVERTISING AND TOUTING

1. Law Firm prohibited from soliciFng Emplacement on

Panels
Its amounts to adver.sing for a law firm to write to a
company (e.g. bank, property developer and insurance
company) reques.ng to be placed on their panel of solicitors
except at the invita.on of the company.
2. Solicitor’s name not to appear on Developer's Signboard
No law firm shall allow its name to appear on the property
developer's signboard whether at the development site or at
the office of the developer or of its marke.ng agent.
See Bar warns lawyers against tou0ng The Star 01/09/2001
h.p://www.hba.org.my/news/2001/901/bar_warns.htm
3. Solicitors not to be present at Developer's offices
as Solicitors
Solicitors shall not be present by themselves as
Solicitors or be represented by their Pupils or clerks
at the promo.onal sites or booking offices of the
Property Developer (whether defined under the
Housing Developers Act or otherwise) where units
are sold or offered for sale.
4. Solicitors not to insist on Purchasers appoinFng
them
Solicitors shall not write to any Purchaser to appoint
them as the Purchaser's Solicitors whether on
instruc.ons from any Property Developer or
otherwise.
PART II : CONFLICT OF INTEREST

5. Solicitor who is Director or SubstanFal Shareholder not to
act for the other Party
A Solicitor who is a director or a substan.al shareholder (as
defined in the Companies Act 1965) of a company shall not
act as Solicitor for the other party to any transac.on in which
the company is a party.

6. Solicitor not to act for Purchaser if he himself or his Partner,
Spouse, Child or Parent is a Director or SubstanFal
Shareholder of any Property Developer
A Solicitor shall not act for the Purchaser if he himself or his
partner, spouse, child or parent is a director or substan.al
shareholder (as defined in the Companies Act 1965) of any
Property Developer.
PART III : FEES AND DISBURSEMENTS

7. Solicitors to return unused Disbursements
Solicitors shall return all unused disbursements to their
clients.

8. Discharging Solicitors, release of documents and lien
over documents
A client may discharge his Solicitors at any stage before
comple.on of a conveyancing maOer by paying the scale
or appropriate fees.
Solicitors are en.tled to exercise their lien over
documents un.l their scale or appropriate fees are paid
or un.l the appropriate undertaking to pay the scale or
appropriate fee is received from the new solicitor.
9. Fees for Discharge of Charge
Where the Chargee's Solicitors request the Chargor's Solicitors to prepare the
Discharge of Charge, it is not proper for the Chargee's Solicitors to collect fees
for the Discharge of Charge from the Chargor other than the aOesta.on fee.

10. Not to charge fees based on a percentage of the interest accrued from
fixed deposit
Solicitors shall not charge a sum equivalent to a certain percentage of the
interest earned towards administra.ve costs and charges. However, Solicitors
may charge a reasonable fee pursuant to the Sixth Schedule of the Solicitors'
Remunera.on Order 2005.

11. Reasonable fees (to be charged within Solicitor's discreFon) in cases of
aborted transacFons
Where Solicitors are engaged in preparing any document but the transac.on is
not concluded for any reason whatsoever, the Solicitor may charge under the
Sixth Schedule but the sum shall not exceed 50% of the scale fee. However, if
the relevant work has been performed or substan.ally performed, the Solicitor
may charge the full scale fee.
12. Solicitors not to collect stamp duty for Transfer or Charge unFl a_er issue of Ftle
Where no separate document of .tle is available for a property, no Solicitor shall collect
any stamp duty and other disbursements for the transfer or charge of the property un.l
aVer the separate document of .tle is issued.

13. Scale fee includes fee for Agreement and Transfer or Assignment as the case may be
The scale fee under the First Schedule includes the fee for the Sale and Purchase
Agreement and the Transfer, or where no separate .tle is available, the Assignment.

14. Fees for Transfer or Charge upon subsequent issuance of Ftle
Upon the subsequent issuance of separate document of .tle, the Solicitor is en.tled to
charge a fee under the Sixth Schedule and the fee charged shall not be more than 25% of
the scale fee under the First or Fourth Schedule or RM1,000.00 whichever is the lower,
subject to a minimum of RM100.00 provided that if the subsequent Transfer or Charge
involves more than one .tle (such as in the situa.on of sub-division), then the Solicitor is
also en.tled to charge an addi.onal fee of RM30.00 in respect of each addi.onal .tle
involved. This ruling shall not be applicable if the subsequent Transfer or Charge is not
done by the same Solicitor or the same firm of Solicitors.

15. Miscellaneous Charges
Miscellaneous charges in any bill of costs should not exceed RM50.00. Any other
disbursements should be itemized.
PART IV : PREPARATION OF SALE AND PURCHASE AGREEMENTS

16. Vendor's Solicitors not to charge fee for supply of Sale and
Purchase Agreement
The Vendor's Solicitor shall prepare and supply the Sale and
Purchase Agreement unless otherwise mutually agreed by the
par.es. The Solicitors preparing the Sale and Purchase Agreement
shall not charge for supplying the Sale and Purchase Agreement.

17. Solicitor not to charge separate fees for preparing the
Agreement in addiFon to his scale fees
Solicitors shall not charge his own client addi.onal sum for the
Agreement as the scale fee under the Solicitors' Remunera.on
Order 1991 includes the charges for the Agreement.
PART V : SECTION 84 OF THE LEGAL
PROFESSION ACT

18. Developer's Solicitor cannot act for
the Purchaser in respect of an individual
lot
A Solicitor ac.ng for a Developer in a
housing project cannot act for any
Purchaser in respect of any lot in the same
phase of the project.
PART VI : SOLICITORS' REMUNERATION ORDER 2005

19. Solicitor to act for one party only
A Solicitor shall act for one party only in any transac.on under the
First, Second and Fourth Schedules of the Solicitors'
Remunera.on Order, 2005 but may witness or aOest the
signature of the other party without charge.

20. Enforcement of Solicitors' RemuneraFon Order
In order to ascertain whether the Solicitors' Remunera.on Order
2005 has been complied with the Bar Council either on its own
mo.on or upon receipt of informa.on or complaint may require
any solicitor to produce to the Bar Council cer.fied copies of
documents rela.ng to any transac.on within fourteen (14) days
or such .me as may be extended by the Bar Council.
PART VII : UNDERTAKINGS

22. Solicitors to return documents if unable to give the undertaking
required
Failure to honor an undertaking is a breach of professional conduct.
This could result in the undertaking being enforced in Court and could
also result in disciplinary proceedings being taken for the breach.
Where payments or documents are sent to a Solicitor subject to
undertaking or condi.ons, the Solicitor should return such payments or
documents to the sender if he is unable to give or perform the
undertaking or condi.ons required.

23. Solicitor not to impose or request unreasonable undertakings
No Solicitor shall impose or request in any manner whatsoever any
undertaking on or from another Solicitor which, in the circumstances, is
unreasonable and/or beyond the control of the other Solicitor.
PART VIII : STAKEHOLDERS

24. Solicitor not liable to pay interest on monies held as Stakeholder
A Solicitor who acts as a stakeholder is not liable to pay interest on any sum held in his
capacity as a stakeholder. A Solicitor, as stakeholder, is not obliged to place the balance of
the purchase price in an interest-bearing account unless provided for in the Agreement or
specifically instructed by the par.es to do so.

25. Fee for acFng as Stakeholder
A Solicitor is en.tled to charge for ac.ng as stakeholder and for producing a final account
rela.ng to its stakeholding.

26. Terms of Stakeholding to be strictly adhered to
A Solicitor ac.ng as stakeholder for two or more par.es must strictly adhere to the terms
of stakeholding at all .mes. No money or document held by a solicitor as stakeholder shall
be released, u.lized, applied or otherwise dealt with by such solicitor except in
accordance with the terms of stakeholding or with the express consent of all relevant
par.es. For example, a solicitor holding the final 5% of the purchase price under a Sale and
Purchase Agreement prescribed by the Housing Developers (Control & Licensing)
Regula.ons 1989 must not (for whatever reason) release the same before the expiry of
the stakeholding period(s) and/or in contraven.on of Clause 23 of the Schedule G
Agreement or Clause 26 of the Schedule H Agreement as the case may be.
PART IX : MISCELLANEOUS

27. Solicitor to state his name with his signature

A solicitor aOes.ng or witnessing any document
shall write or affix his name clearly with his
signature.

28. Solicitors to give prompt reply to clients or
fellow Solicitors
A Solicitor must promptly reply to the
correspondence of a client or a former client as
well as fellow Solicitors with regard to that
client's maOer.