Advertising of Legal Fees by Lawyers: Public and Lawyers’ Perception
Pusat Keutuhan Tadbir Urus & Akauntabiliti Fakulti Ekonomi dan Pengurusan
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
43650 Bangi
Abstract
Pengiklanan oleh peguam dikawal oleh Kaedah-Kaedah Profesion Undang-Undang (Publisiti) 2001, Kaedah-Kaedah Profesion Undang-Undang (Amalan dan Etiket) 1978 dan keputusan-keputusan Majlis Peguam yang berkaitan. Walaupun kaedah dan keputusan ini membenarkan peguam untuk mengiklankan amalannya dalam pelbagai cara dan medium, tetapi hanya ‘maklumat yang diluluskan’boleh diiklankan. Namun, sebahagian besar daripada ‘maklumat yang diluluskan’ini terbatas kepada biodata peguam serta butiran mengenai firma dan rakan kongsi peguam. Maklumat yang lebih penting untuk diketahui awam dan yang boleh membantu mereka untuk membanding serta memilih perkhidmatan peguam yang menepati keperluan mereka, tidak boleh diiklankan. Salah satunya ialah maklumat mengenai yuran guaman yang dikenakan oleh peguam. Makalah ini membincangkan tentang sekatan untuk mengiklan yuran guaman seperti yang terkandung dalam kaedah publisiti yang mengawal profesion guaman Malaysia dan membandingkannya dengan peraturan yang dikuatkuasakan di Amerika Syarikat dan United Kingdom. Soal selidik untuk meninjau persepsi awam dan peguam berhubung isu ini turut diedarkan dan dapatannya dipersembahkan secara deskriptif. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa majoriti pihak awam mempunyai persepsi bahawa maklumat mengenai yuran guaman adalah maklumat yang sesuai diiklankan. Namun, pihak peguam mempunyai persepsi sebaliknya. Akhir sekali, penulis menyaran beberapa penambahbaikan terhadap kaedah sedia ada, bagi memenuhi keperluan semasa.
Advertising by lawyers is regulated by the Legal Profession (Publicity) Rules 2001, Legal Profession (Practice and Etiquette) 1978 as well as relevant Bar Council’s rulings. Even though these rules and rulings allow lawyers to advertise their practice in various ways and mediums, only ‘approved information’ could be advertised. However, most of the approved information are limited to lawyers’ biodata and details about the firms and the firms’ partners. Information that is more important to be made known to the public and which may help them to compare and choose the lawyers’ services that suit their needs, could not be advertised. For instance, information on the legal fees charged by lawyers. This paper discusses the restrictions to advertise legal fees as contained in the publicity rules governing the legal profession in Malaysia and compares them with the rules enforced in the United States and United Kingdom. A survey on the perception of the public and the lawyers pertaining to this issue is carried out and the findings are presented in a descriptive manner. The results revealed that majority of the public have a perception that the information on the legal fees is appropriate to be advertised. However, the lawyers perceived otherwise. Finally, the researcher proposes some improvements to the existing publicity rules, so as to fulfill the current needs.