Solicitors Acts, 1954 To 1994 (Professional Indemnity Insurance) Regulations, 1995.
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: (a) These Regulations may be cited as The Solicitors Acts, 1954 to 1994 (Professional Indemnity Insurance) Regulations, 1995.
(b) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of December, 1995.
2 Interpretation.
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paragraphs: (a) In these Regulations (including the Appendix and Schedule thereto)—
"the Act of 1954" means the Solicitors Act, 1954 (No. 36 of 1954);
"the Act of 1960" means the Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1960 (No. 37 of 1960);
"the Act of 1994" means the Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1994 (No. 27 of 1994);
"approved indemnity terms" has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 5;
"Assigned Risks Pool" means the insurance pool participated in by each qualified insurer through which a solicitor who is refused the minimum level of cover or run-off cover, or in respect of whom there has been a constructive declinature, by three or more qualified insurers (one of which to be the mutual fund known as the "Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund Limited"), may, in accordance with these regulations, obtain the minimum level of cover or run-off cover;
"authorised person" means a person (including a body corporate) authorised in writing by the PII Committee to conduct a Risk Management Audit;
"civil liability" has the meaning assigned to it in paragraph (2) of the Appendix to these Regulations;
"clerk or servant" includes an apprentice and a person employed whole-time or part-time by a solicitor and a person providing services under a contract for services;
"constructive declinature" means the quotation to a solicitor by a qualified insurer of terms or conditions or of a premium for providing the minimum level of cover or run-off cover, the effect of which is tantamount, in the opinion of the PII Committee in the particular circumstances of the case, to a refusal to provide the minimum level of cover or run-off cover;
"conveyancing services" means services in connection with the preparation of transfers, conveyances, contracts, leases or other assurances in connection with the disposition or acquisition of estates or interests in land;
"Council" means the Council of the Law Society of Ireland;
"Disciplinary Tribunal" means the Disciplinary Tribunal established by section 6 (as substituted by section 16 of the Act of 1994) of the Act of 1960;
"he" and other cognate words denoting the masculine should also include "she" and other cognate words denoting the feminine;
"indemnity against losses" means indemnity against losses and claims arising in respect of civil liability incurred by an insured in respect of any act or omission of the insured arising from his practice as a solicitor;
"indemnity cover" means indemnity cover in force relating to a solicitor in respect of his practice as a solicitor, whether or not provided by a qualified insurer and whether or not equivalent to the minimum level of cover;
"insured" means a solicitor or a partner, clerk or servant (or former or deceased partner, clerk or servant) of a solicitor, and includes a solicitor who is a member of the mutual fund known as the "Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund Limited";
"insurer" means—
(i) the mutual fund known as the "Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund Limited"; or
(ii) an insurance company or insurance underwriter authorised pursuant to the Insurance Acts, 1909 to 1990 to carry on general insurance business in the State;
(iii) an insurance company or insurance underwriter which has either its head office or a branch office within a member state of the European Union other than the State and which is authorised by law to carry on general insurance business within the State;
"interim cover" has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 10;
"legal services" means services of a legal or financial nature provided by a solicitor arising from that solicitor's practice as a solicitor, and includes any part of such services;
"minimum level of cover" has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 6;
"misconduct" includes the contravention of section 26 of the Act of 1994 or of these Regulations;
"PII Committee" means the Professional Indemnity Insurance Committee appointed pursuant to Regulation 3;
"Pool Manager" means the person (including a body corporate) appointed from time to time by the PII Committee to manage the Assigned Risks Pool;
"practice" means a solicitor's practice carried on by one or more solicitors engaged in the provision of legal services;
"practice year" means a calendar year;
"practising certificate" has the meaning assigned to it in section 46 of the Act of 1954;
"qualified insurer" has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 5;
"Registrar" means the holder of the office of registrar of solicitors appointed by the Society pursuant to section 8 of the Act of 1954;
"Regulation" means a regulation in these Regulations;
"retroactive cover" means indemnity against losses arising from the provision of legal services engaged in by a solicitor prior to the practice year in which a claim in respect thereof is duly notified to the qualified insurer concerned or to the Pool Manager;
"Risk Management Audit" means the investigation of a practice of a solicitor or solicitors admitted or provisionally admitted to the Assigned Risks Pool conducted by an authorised person, with a view to ascertaining—
(i) the conditions (including administration, employment, financial and management conditions) prevailing within the practice;
(ii) the competence, both in management and in the provision of legal services, of the solicitor or solicitors concerned; and
(iii) why the solicitor or solicitors concerned has or have been unable to obtain the minimum level of cover or why there has been a constructive declinature in respect of the solicitor or solicitors concerned;
"Risk Management Report" has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 11;
"run-off cover" means indemnity against losses equivalent to the minimum level of cover in respect of an act or omission of a solicitor arising from his practice as a solicitor and occurring prior to the solicitor ceasing for any reason to engage in practice as a solicitor, which is duly notified within a period of six years from the end of the practice year in respect of which there was last in force relating to the solicitor the minimum level of cover;
"self-insured excess" has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 6 (b);
"the Society" means the Law Society of Ireland;
"solicitor" means a person who has been admitted as a solicitor and whose name is on the roll; and a reference to a solicitor includes, unless the context otherwise requires a reference to—
(i) a solicitor who is engaged in practice as a solicitor, whether as a sole practitioner or as a partner in a practice or as an employee of a practice or of any other person or body, and who is prohibited by section 56 of the Act of 1954 from so engaging in practice unless a practising certificate in respect of him is in force;
(ii) a solicitor who is employed full-time within the State to provide conveyancing services only to and for his employer (provided that such employer is not a solicitor);
(iii) a former solicitor or a deceased solicitor.
(b) Other words and phrases in these Regulations shall have the meanings assigned to them by the Solicitors Acts, 1954 to 1994.
(c) The Interpretation Act, 1937 shall apply for the purpose of the interpretation of these Regulations as it applies for the purpose of the interpretation of an Act of the Oireachtas, except in so far as it may be inconsistent with the Solicitors Acts, 1954 to 1994 or these Regulations.
3 Professional Indemnity Insurance Committee.
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paragraphs: (a) The Council shall, as soon as practicable after the coming into operation of these Regulations, appoint a Professional Indemnity Insurance Committee (in these Regulations referred to as the "PII Committee"), which shall be responsible for exercising on behalf of the Council the functions vested in the Society by or under section 26 of the Act of 1994 and vested in the PII Committee by or under these Regulations.
(b) The PII Committee shall consist of not more than nine members, of whom—
(i) at least two-thirds shall be members of the Council;
(ii) one shall be the Pool Manager (or a representative of the Pool Manager); and
(iii) two may be appointed by the Council on a practice year basis, each to represent one or more of the qualified insurers for the time being, provided that in making any such appointments the Council shall (inter alia) have regard to the proportion (at the time of such appointments) which the number of individual solicitors to whom each of the qualified insurers concerned provide the minimum level of cover bears to the total number of individual solicitors to whom all qualified insurers provide the minimum level of cover.
(c) Without prejudice to the generality of clause (b) of this Regulation, the PII Committee may invite a representative of each qualified insurer for the time being to be a participating observer entitled to attend and to participate (but not to vote) at each meeting of the PII Committee.
(d) The PII Committee may, subject to the prior approval of the Council, delegate any of the functions of the PII Committee set forth in these Regulations to a sub-committee of the PII Committee.
(e) The quorum of the PII Committee or of any sub-committee of the PII Committee shall be three, subject to one of the quorum being the Pool Manager (or a representative of the Pool Manager).
(f) Without prejudice to the generality or specificity of any Regulation, the PII Committee shall exercise on behalf of the Council as may be appropriate from time to time the following functions of the Society:
(i) making recommendations in relation to the management, administration and protection of the mutual fund known as the "Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund Limited";
(ii) specifying circumstances in which any solicitor or specified category of solicitor may be exempted in whole or in part from compliance with these Regulations;
(iii) directing steps necessary or expedient to be taken to ascertain whether these Regulations are being complied with;
(iv) specifying the manner in which solicitors or any specified category of solicitors shall bring their compliance with, or exemption from, these Regulations to the notice of their clients or the Society;
(v) determining whether a perceived breach of section 26 (6) of the Act of 1994 or these Regulations by a solicitor should be the subject of an application by the Society to the Disciplinary Tribunal for an inquiry into the conduct of that solicitor on the ground of alleged misconduct;
(vi) making decisions in relation to matters (including procedural matters) deemed to be in pursuance of or incidental or supplementary to the functions vested in the Society under section 26 of the Act of 1994 or in pursuance of or incidental or supplementary to the provisions of these Regulations.
4 Insurance a precondition to issue of practising certificate.
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paragraphs: (a) Subject to clause (b) of this regulation, a solicitor who applies to the Society for a practising certificate in respect of a practice year commencing after the 31st day of December, 1996 shall not be issued with such practising certificate unless the solicitor has furnished (or caused to be furnished) to the Society written confirmation from a qualified insurer of there being in force relating to him the minimum level of cover for the duration of the practice year to which such practising certificate so applied for relates.
(b) A solicitor, who is employed full-time within the State to provide legal services (other than conveyancing services only) to and for his employer (provided such employer is not a solicitor), may apply to the Society to be issued with a practising certificate without being required to comply with clause (a) of this regulation, where the solicitor in making such application certifies in writing to the Society that, for the duration of the practice year to which such practising certificate so applied for relates, the solicitor will not engage in the provision of legal services to and for any person or persons other than his employer.
(c) A solicitor, who is employed full-time within the State to provide conveyancing services only to and for his employer (provided such employer is not a solicitor) and as such (under section 56 (3) (b) of the Act of 1994) does not require a practising certificate in respect of him to be in force, shall not be required to furnish (or cause to be furnished) to the Society written evidence from a qualified insurer of there being in force relating to him the minimum level of cover for the duration of any practice year, where the solicitor certifies in writing to the Society that, for the duration of that practice year, the solicitor will not engage in the provision of conveyancing services to and for any person or persons other than his employer or any other form of legal services to and for any person or persons.
(d) The PII Committee may deem a solicitor to have complied with clause (a) of this Regulation where the PII Committee is of opinion from written evidence furnished to the Society that there exists one or other of the following circumstances:
(i) that there is in force relating to the solicitor concerned the minimum level of cover for the period from the commencement of the practice year in question up to and including the 31st day of October in that practice year and the qualified insurer concerned has unconditionally undertaken to extend the period of the minimum level of cover up to and including the 31st day of December in that practice year in the event that the solicitor concerned either does not obtain—
(A) a renewal of the minimum level of cover from that qualified insurer, or
(B) the minimum level of cover from another qualified insurer,
for the year commencing on the 1st day of November in that practice year;
(ii) that there is in force relating to the solicitor concerned indemnity cover in respect of the practice year in question, arising by reason of the solicitor also holding a certificate issued by the Law Society of Northern Ireland or (in relation to England and Wales) the Law Society corresponding to a practising certificate issued by the Society, and the existence of which indemnity cover is certified in writing to the Society by the solicitor concerned, and which, in the opinion of the PII Committee, is substantially equivalent to at least the minimum level of cover.
5 Approved Indemnity terms.
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paragraphs: An insurer shall be designated by the PII Committee as a qualified insurer (in these Regulations referred to as "qualified insurer") where the insurer enters into an Assigned Risks Pool Participation Agreement (in the form set forth in Form 1 in the Schedule to these Regulations), which shall include an agreement with the Society to provide to solicitors acceptable to the qualified insurer at least the minimum level of cover pursuant to a contract of insurance or pursuant to written terms of membership of a mutual fund, including at least the minimum provisions as set forth in the Appendix to these Regulations and as may be specified by the PII Committee from time to time (in these Regulations referred to as "approved indemnity terms").
6 Minimum level of cover.
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paragraphs: (a) The minimum level of cover (including retroactive cover) for indemnity against losses pursuant to approved indemnity terms from a qualified insurer in respect of any practice year (in these Regulations referred to as the "minimum level of cover") shall be—
(i) the amount of £350,000 for each and every claim (including claimants' legal costs) unlimited in the aggregate in respect of any act or omission of the insured which gives rise to a claim or which the insured considers may give rise to a claim and is duly notified to the qualified insurer concerned during the practice year in question, together with the insured's own legal costs up to a maximum of not less than £100,000 incurred with the consent of the qualified insurer concerned, or such other increased amounts as may be specified by the Council from time to time (after consultation with the PII Committee) and as shall be notified to each qualified insurer and to each solicitor holding a current practising certificate by not later than six months prior to the commencement of the next following practice year from which such increased amounts would become applicable; or
(ii) in such particular and exceptional circumstances (whether in relation to the Assigned Risks Pool or otherwise) as the PII Committee may in its discretion accept and subject to such terms and conditions as the PII Committee may specify as appropriate, such amount in the aggregate not being less than £300,000 (including claimants' legal costs), together with the insured's own legal costs up to a maximum of not less than £100,000 incurred with the consent of the qualified insurer concerned, for claims in respect of any act or omission of the insured which gives rise to a claim or which the insured considers may give rise to a claim occuring during, or within a period of six years prior to the commencement of, the practice year in question, and is duly notified to the Pool Manager or to the qualified insurer concerned during the practice year in question.
(b) The excess applicable to each and every claim in any practice year (in these Regulations referred to as "self-insured excess") shall not exceed—
(i) in the case of a practice comprising one solicitor only, the amount of £5,000 and in the case of a practice comprising two or more solicitors practising together (whether or not the relationship between them is based on partnership), the amount of £5,000 multiplied by the number of solicitors in the practice; or
(ii) such other amount as may be specified by the Council from time to time (after consultation with the PII Committee) and as shall be notified to each qualified insurer and to each solicitor holding a current practising certificate by not later than six months prior to the commencement of the next following practice year from which such other amount would become applicable.
7 Change in circumstances and run-off cover
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paragraphs: (a) Where in the course of a practice year, whether as a result of—
(i) the amalgamation, merger, dissolution or reorganisation of a practice; or
(ii) the departure from a practice, a solicitor alters the circumstances in which he intends to continue to engage in the provision of legal services, the solicitor must, within a period of not more than 21 days after such alteration of circumstances, furnish (or cause to be furnished) to the Society written confirmation from a qualified insurer or from the Pool Manager that he has and maintains the minimum level of cover for the remaining part of that practice year.
(b) Where in the course of a practice year, a solicitor, in respect of whom clause (b) of Regulation 4 has been applied, intends to engage in the provision of legal services to and for any person or persons other than his employer, the solicitor shall, prior to so engaging, furnish (or cause to be furnished) to the Society written confirmation from a qualified insurer of there being in force relating to him the minimum level of cover for the remaining part of that practice year.
(c) Where in the course of a practice year, a solicitor, in respect of whom clause (c) of Regulation 4 has been applied, intends to engage in the provision of conveyancing services to and for any person or persons other than his employer, or any person or persons other than his employer, or any other form of legal services to and for any person or persons, the solicitor shall prior to so engaging—
(i) apply to the Society for a practising certificate in respect of the remaining part of that practice year;
(ii) furnish (or caused to be furnished) to the Society written confirmation from a qualified insurer of there being in force relating to him the minimum level of cover for the remaining part of the practice year to which such practising certificates so applied for relates.
(d) Where a solicitor (other than a solicitor in respect of whom clause (b) or (c) of Regulation 4 has been applied in not less than the immediately preceding six practice years) ceases for any reason to engage in practice as a solicitor, he shall, unless the PII Committee on application by the solicitor direct otherwise, maintain run-off cover either provided by a qualified insurer or, where the solicitor has been refused run-off cover, or in respect of whom there has been a constructive declinature, by three or more qualified insurers (one of which to be the mutual fund known as the "Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund Limited"), through the Assigned Risks Pool.
(e) (i) Where a solicitor to whom clause (d) of this Regulation applies makes application to the PII Committee for admission to the Assigned Risks Pool for the purpose of obtaining run-off cover, the solicitor shall furnish to the PII Committee such information concerning his practice as a solicitor and pay such premium deposit as the Pool Manager or the PII Committee shall, in the particular circumstances, deem appropriate and reasonable.
(ii) Upon compliance by a solicitor with the provisions of sub-clause (i) of this clause, the PII Committee shall decide, having regard to all the circumstances of the particular case, whether run-off cover should be provided to the solicitor through the Assigned Risks Pool and, when so provided, the premium therefor and the other terms and conditions thereof.
(f) Where a solicitor to whom this Regulation applies fails to comply therewith, the Society may deem such failure to comply as serious and as warranting (after due notice to the solicitor) one or more of the following, namely:
(i) the making of an application by the Society to the High Court pursuant to section 58 (1) of the Act of 1994 for suspension of the current practising certificate of the solicitor;
(ii) the Society directing the Registrar (under section 49 of the Act of 1954, as substituted by section 61 of the Act of 1994) to refuse to issue a practising certificate to the solicitor for the remaining part of the practice year in question;
(iii) the application by the Society to the Disciplinary Tribunal for an inquiry into the conduct of the solicitor on the ground of alleged misconduct.
8 Eligibility for admission to Assigned Risks Pool.
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paragraphs: (a) Where a solicitor, who has not previously been in the Assigned Risks Pool either at all or within the preceding six years, shows to the satisfaction of the PII Committee that—
(i) he has been refused the minimum level of cover, or in respect of whom there has been a constructive declinature, by three or more qualified insurers (one of which to be the mutual fund known as the "Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund"); and
(ii) he has applied to the Society for a practising certificate in respect of the practice year in question and that such practising certificate would be issued to him subject only to his furnishing (or causing to be furnished) to the society written evidence of there being in force relating to him the minimum level of cover for the duration of the practice year in question,
the solicitor shall be eligible for admission to the Assigned Risks Pool.