Adjudication No. 457 (September 1990) [1990] APC 29

ADJUDICATION No. 457 (September 1990)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint against the Sydney Morning Herald over an article in a "You and the Law" supplement published in September 1989.

The article, which was supplied to the Herald by the Law Society of NSW, dealt with conveyancing and its pitfalls, and included this paragraph: "If you deal with a solicitor and you are overcharged or something goes wrong, you can complain to the Law Society, which has the power to discipline the solicitor, and, if you lose money, you can claim compensation; the solicitor is compulsorily insured. When you deal with a solicitor you get peace of mind as a bonus."

Mr B F Reece complained that a "false and misleading impression of 'insurance' being offered to the client of a solicitor" was thus created. But it was the solicitor who was covered by professional indemnity insurance, not the transaction.

Mr Reece wrote: "As the transaction has not been insured, a person must commence by pursuing an action for negligence through the legal system. Such a course is not without expense. Nor is the outcome that which the public generally understands by insurance."

The Herald replied that the paragraph in question stated that the Law Society had power to discipline solicitors; solicitors' clients could claim compensation; solicitors were compulsorily insured... and each was a correct statement.

The article neither said nor implied, said the Herald, that a claim for compensation would be automatically met.

The Press Council accepts that the article made it clear twice, and once in a sub-heading, that the solicitor was the object of the insurance -- against claims of negligence. The article did not imply automatic compensation for money lost, nor the automatic acceptance of negligence claims.

As for any difference between insurance and compulsory contributory professional indemnity, that is not a matter for the Press Council to decide.

The complaint is dismissed.