Bar Council: Legal services set to cost 400% more

By The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council expects lawyer fees for court cases to increase between 300% and 400% this year.

This means that cases which previously cost around RM2,000 would now cost RM8,000 to RM10,000.

Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan said this was due to lawyers having more responsibilities since cases could not be postponed easily.

“Furthermore, cases need to be settled in three months,” he said after launching the distribution of a comprehensive guide on how a lawyer’s office should be managed.

“Previously, filing civil cases at the magistrate’s court costs only RM2,000 but it may rise to RM8,000 or RM10,000.

“This does not include cases filed in the High Court, which has a bigger responsibility,” he told Bernama.

On the manual, he said the Bar Council was duty-bound to assist new lawyers because the number of lawyers who faced disciplinary action has increased.

“Statistics show that the Bar Council’s disciplinary board penalises or takes disciplinary action against 30 to 40 lawyers a year for cheating clients, partners and other offences,” Ragunath said.

In another development, the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee has written to the Education Ministry to include the teaching of the Federal Constitution in the school syllabus.

Chairman Anand Ponnudurai said it highlighted the need to educate students on the existence and basics of the Constitution.

“The officials seemed positive and the Education Ministry is currently restructuring the teaching content and syllabus of several subjects,” he said after the launch of the MyConstitution campaign at Help University College in Petaling Jaya.

He added that the Constitution might not be a standalone subject but introduced as a topic in other subjects.

“It is sufficient as long as students are educated on the content, structure and true nature of the Constitution,” Anand said, adding that the committee is currently waiting for the ministry to respond to the proposal.