Come Saturday, the Malaysian Bar annual general meeting (AGM) may set the stage for 'fireworks' as a group of senior lawyers makes another attempt to push for a vote of no-confidence against the disciplinary board.

It tops the list of five motions for the meeting which is usually attended by an average of 800 of the 13,000 Bar members.

This is the second attempt by the group which is unhappy with the disciplinary board for allegedly failing to punish big law firms for wrongdoings while small firms and newcomers were severely punished.

Contacted by Bernama today, a senior lawyer who initiated the motion, confirmed that the group was going ahead with the motion and hoped it would succeed this time around.

Malaysian Bar secretary George Varughese confirmed that five motions would be tabled and that copies were sent to members.

He said the second motion called for the Bar to allow market forces to decide on discounts on legal fees .

Currently, members are disallowed from offering such discounts to their clients.

Compensation for fraudulent land deal

Varughese said the third motion was on the possibility of the government paying reasonable compensation due to the "erroneous" decision of the Federal Court in the land matter involving Adorna Properties vs Boonson Boonyanit.

The fourth motion calls for the Bar Council to brief members on the status of the proposed move by the judiciary to standardise the High Court and subordinate court rules.

The fifth and final motion would be moved by Bar president Ragunath Kesavan, on the proposed scheme by Bank Negara to cover third party bodily injury and death claims, where the central bank was planning to put a ceiling of RM100,000, as compared to existing laws which allowed up to RM1 million legal claim.

Varughese said the Bar wanted Bank Negara to consult all parties directly involved with the industry, rather than implementing it arbitrarily.

He expects greater attendance this year for the meeting which would be held in Legend Hotel.

"We have more than 9,000 members in the Klang Valley alone, we hope they will turn up to express their views on the motions and other related matters of the Bar," he added.

- Bernama