Scottish Court of Session Decisions

James Shepherd, an enrolled law agent, practising in the Sheriff Court of Elginshire, was convicted of forgery on 8th September 1880, and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment. The document which he had fabricated was a petition to the Sheriff Court of Elginshire for discharge of a sequestrated bankrupt, who was his client, to which he adhibited a forged signature of the Sheriff-Clerk-Depute.

The Society of Solicitors of Elginshire presented a petition to the Court craving their Lordships to “decern and ordain the Registrar of Law Agents to strike the name of the said James Shepherd out of the register of enrolled law agents, and also to decern and ordain the Sheriff-Clerk of the Sheriff Court of Elginshire to strike the name of the said James Shepherd off the roll of law agents practising in the said Sheriff Court.”

In the petition it was stated that the petitioners are a society of procurators in the county of

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Elgin, incorporated under the Act 28 and 29 Vict. cap. 85 (The Procurators (Scotland) Act 1865), and entitled to sue and be sued in their corporate name. The said Act is repealed by the Act 36 and 37 Vict. cap. 63 (The Law Agents Act of 1873), sec. 25, which, however, provides that “such repeal shall not prevent societies which prior to the passing of this Act were formed under the said Act from continuing to exist as incorporated societies.” That the said last-recited Act provides (section 11) that “it shall be the duty of the registrar to keep an alphabetical register of all enrolled law agents; and enrolment in such register shall be deemed to be enrolment under this Act, and he shall strike out the name of any law agent on an order of the Court” (the words “the Court” being declared to mean the Court of Session); section 13—that “a roll of agents practising in any Sheriff Court shall be kept by the Sheriff-Clerk in such form as the Lord President of the Court of Session may direct, and every enrolled law agent who has paid the stamp-duty exigible by law on admission to practise as an agent before a Sheriff Court shall be entitled to subscribe the said roll;” section 14—that “the name of any person shall be struck off the said rolls (1) in obedience to the order of the Court, upon application duly made, and after hearing parties, or giving them an opportunity of being heard;” and section 22—that “every enrolled law agent shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Court in any complaint which may be made against him for misconduct as a law agent, and it shall be lawful for the Court, in either Division thereof, to deal summarily with any such complaint, and to do therein as shall be just.”

Answers were lodged for the respondent, in which he craved the Court to consider the peculiar circumstances of the case, the trifling amount of any possible gain to himself or loss to his client arising from the offence, and the punishment which had already been inflicted on him, and to refuse the prayer of the petition, at least to the extent of allowing his name to remain on the register of enrolled law agents.

The case was disposed of in Single Bills.

The Petitioners' counsel stated that this was the first instance of an application of this kind in Scotland. With regard to English practice he referred to Archbold's Practice (last ed.), 150.