Liability of legal practitioner for client's costs in certain cases
344 Liability of legal practitioner for client's costs in certain cases
(1) The Commission may, at any stage of a matter, make one or more of the
following orders in respect of a legal practitioner whose serious neglect,
serious incompetence or serious misconduct delays, or contributes to delaying,
the matter--
(a) an order disallowing the whole or any part of the costs
between the legal practitioner and his or her client,
(b) an order directing
the legal practitioner to repay to his or her client the whole or any part of
the costs that the client has been ordered to pay to any other party,
(c) an
order directing the legal practitioner to indemnify any party other than his
or her client against the whole or any part of the costs payable by the party
indemnified.
(2) The Commission may refer a matter to a costs assessor for
inquiry and report before making such an order.
(3) The Commission may order
that notice of such an order against a legal practitioner is to be given to
the legal practitioner's client in a specified manner.
(4) A legal
practitioner is not entitled to demand, recover or accept from his or her
client any part of the amount for which the legal practitioner is directed by
the Commission to indemnify a party pursuant to such an order.
(5) This
section does not limit any other provision of this Part.
