The Court prescribed fee is too low, say lawyers

In road accidents, the victim is the ultimate sufferer. After waiting for many years, battling both physical and economic hardships, when compensation is actually awarded to them, they often have to fork out one-third of the compensation to the lawyer who represented them. In some cases, lawyers demand (or rather make the victim believe) that they deserves 50 per cent of the compensation.

Sujatha, an advocate in the Madras High Court, ruefully admits, “Perhaps 20 per cent of the lawyers take 50 per cent of the compensation, especially when the victim is uneducated or naive.”

“The fee fixed as per the Advocate Fee Rules is very low. We cannot survive if we go by it,” says Ramgopal, a lawyer at the Madras High Court. He justifies demanding a big cut: “Right from paying the traffic police to obtaining the FIR and accident register copy, we invest money. Many times we spend from our own pocket, like paying the court fee, and other miscellaneous expenses to get witnesses to appear on the victim’s behalf. We sometimes even pay for the medical expenses of the victim.”

For a claim of Rs 1 lakh, the court fee is fixed at Rs 372.50. Most claims fall in the range of Rs 3-6 lakh.