Legal Practitioners (Fees) Act, 1926

This 1926 Act sets out the legal rules governing when lawyers can privately agree on and sue for their professional fees, and confirms they remain liable for negligence despite being legal practitioners. Section 2 defines "legal practitioner" by reference to the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973, and clarifies that a lawyer is not deemed to "act" for a client if they only plead (argue) the case, nor to "agree to act" if they only agree to plead.

Section 3 allows any legal practitioner who acts or agrees to act for a client to privately settle, by agreement, the terms of their engagement and the fee for their professional services.

Section 4 gives the legal practitioner the right to sue to recover a fee due under that agreement -- or, if no fee was agreed, a fee calculated under the ordinary rules used for computing legal costs awarded to a party in litigation.

Section 5 confirms that a legal practitioner who has acted or agreed to act is not automatically shielded from being sued for negligence in their professional duties just because they are a lawyer -- they remain liable like anyone else for loss or injury caused by their negligence. Section 6, which originally contained repeals, was itself repealed by the Repealing Act, 1927.

This is an old statute (1926) that establishes basic contract-based fee recovery and negligence liability rules for lawyers, and it should be read alongside the current Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973 for the modern definition of "legal practitioner."