1843.

ALLEN

v.

ALDRIDGE.

became necessary that certain surrenders and admissions should be made at a special Court of the manor.

On the 14th of July 1843, a court was held for the purpose; but before the required surrenders and admissions were made, Mr. Ward, the steward, claimed fees to the amount of 74l. 15s. 2d. which were complained of at the time, but Mr. Ward stated that the fees which he demanded were the usual fees, and that he would take no less.

The Court was adjourned till the next day, when the sum of 747. 15s. 2d. was paid for the steward's fees, the parties, as they alleged, protesting against the fairness of the charges.

This petition was presented by the Plaintiffs and Defendants in the cause. They alleged that Mr. Ward, the steward of the manor, was a practising solicitor and that his charges were excessive, and they therefore prayed that his bill of fees might be taxed.

Mr. Pemberton Leigh and Mr. Stinton, in support of the petition.

The thirty-seventh section of the 6 & 7 Vict. c. 73.9 enacts, that a solicitor shall not bring an action to recover "any fees, charges, or disbursements for any business done by such solicitor," till one month after he has delivered his bill; and upon the application of the party chargeable, the Lord Chancellor or Master of the Rolls may direct a taxation, "in case no part of such business" (that is of any business), "shall have been transacted in any court of law or equity."

It does not therefore require that the relation of solicitor and client should exist, nor that any part of the business should be done in court, nor is it necessary

that

that the business should be of a nature which can only be properly done by a solicitor. Thus, for instance, a certificated conveyancer may undertake conveyancing business and his fees would not be taxable under the act; yet if the same business were done by a solicitor, there can be no doubt that the fees and charges for it would be taxable under the provisions of this statute. The only qualification seems to be, that the business must be connected with matters of law. These charges which are all for law business are therefore taxable.

The Court has interfered summarily in the case of a steward of a manor. Thus in Rawes v. Rawes (a), the steward of a manor, who was also a solicitor, was ordered, on the petition of the lord and in a summary manner, to deliver up the court rolls to the Receiver in the cause. And the same principle was acted on in Hughes v. Mayre. (b)

Mr. Kindersley, contrà.

The fees of a steward of a manor are not taxable under this act. To bring a case within the statute, the relation of solicitor and client must be first shewn to exist. The thirty-seventh section gives the right of taxation to the party chargeable, that is, to the client. The twenty-eighth section gives a similar right to the party who is liable to pay or who has paid, and by the thirty-ninth section the same right is given to the cestui que trust; but in both the latter instances, the relation of solicitor and client must first be established, as between the solicitor and his direct employer who is the "party chargeable." Here the respondent is neither the attorney of the tenant nor of the lord; he is the representative merely of the latter, and might fill the office of steward, though he were not a solicitor. Can

1843.

ALLEN

D.

Aldridge.

1843.

ALLEN

v.

ALDRIDGE.

Can the accidental circumstance of being a solicitor make these charges taxable which would not otherwise be the subject of taxation?

'In the instances of a Coroner, or of the Officers in the Prerogative Court, or the Clerk of the city companies, or the Secretary of bankrupts, their fees cannot be the subject of taxation in this Court; but suppose the persons who filled those offices happened, accidentally, to be solicitors, would that circumstance draw with it the right of sending their account of fees to the taxing Master for taxation? The remedy in the present, as in those cases, if there be an extortionate charge, is at common law. The fees of a manor depend on the custom, which varies in every manor; these are not matters that come properly within the province of a taxing Officer. To send this sort of matters to the taxing Masters will be to refer to them to decide on the custom of all the manors in England, and their decision on the question of quantum would be final. The cases cited do not apply, they were cases between the lord and his steward, who as an attorney had obtained possession of his title-deeds. The Court always interfered in such cases.

Mr. Pemberton Leigh, in reply.

The object of the act was to render all the fees and charges of a solicitor taxable, provided they were connected with law business. It is not necessary that the relation of solicitor and client should exist, as parties interested in the fund out of which payment is to be made are entitled to demand a taxation.

The steward has duties to perform towards the tenant as well as the lord, he has the custody of the rolls in which the tenant has a recognised interest, and in the surrenders and searches he is employed on behalf of the tenant as well as the lord.

The

The proper remedy is by an application for taxation; for the steward says, "I will not admit you unless you pay certain fees." The tenant being thus obliged compulsively to pay, has no other remedy. If he brought an action, the answer would be that the payment was voluntary; and if he indicted for extortion, he could not, by such a proceeding, recover back the money.

The MASTER of the ROLLS.

This petition is presented by the Plaintiffs and Defendants in the cause. They allege that Mr. Ward, the steward of the manor, is a practising solicitor, and that his charges are excessive, and they therefore pray that his bill of fees may be taxed.

The question is, whether the charges of the steward of a manor who happens to be a solicitor, but was not employed as such, and who acted only as steward of the manor on the occasion in question, are taxable under the statute, and I am of opinion, that they

are not.

The statute does not authorise the taxation of every pecuniary demand or bill which may be made or delivered by a person who is a solicitor, for every species of employment in which he may happen to be engaged.

The business contained in a taxable bill may be business of which no part was transacted in any Court of law or equity; but I am of opinion that it must be business connected with the profession of an attorney or solicitor business in which the attorney or solicitor was employed, because he was an attorney or solicitor, or in which he would not have been employed, if he had not been an attorney or solicitor, or if the relation of attorney or solicitor and client had not subsisted between him and his employer.

1844.

ALLEN

v.

ALDRIDGE.

It may perhaps, on some occasions, be questionable, whether the business contained in a solicitor's bill be or be not such as to make the bill taxable under the act; but in the present case I do not see any reason to doubt. The relation of solicitor and client did not subsist between Mr. Ward and the petitioners, or any of them, or between Mr. Ward and any other person in relation to this matter. He was not employed by the petitioners because he was a solicitor, but because he was steward of the manor, and he might have been steward of the manor without being a solicitor. His bill is not as to any part of it a solicitor's bill; it is the bill of charges claimed to be payable to the steward of a manor, and nothing else; and I am of opinion that the statute gives me no jurisdiction over it.

Dismiss the petition with costs.

of a

1843. Dec. 22.

1844. Feb. 19.

an order for tax

In re BECKE and FLOWER.

After payment N January 1843, Mr. Whately assigned his estate to Messrs. Becke and Flower, who were solicitors, on trust to pay the expenses and divide the residue amongst

ation is not to be obtained as

of course, even by a party liable to pay the same. Under the 6 & 7 Vict. c. 73., any party entitled to the order

the scheduled creditors. Messrs. Becke and Flower accepted the trusts and incurred some expenses therein.

In June 1843, Mr. Whately took the benefit of the Insolvent Debtors' Act, and Mr. Hearne was appointed

his

may obtain it, as of course and without special directions, within one month after delivery, and with such special directions as the Court may order to be imposed, after the expiration of one month from the delivery, but not after verdict, writ of inquiry, or payment. In those cases a special order made upon special circumstances, to be proved to the satisfaction of the Court, is required.

A mere volunteer, under no previous liability, does not by paying a solicitor's bill acquire a right to tax it.