5C2 



SOLICITORS 



8OLITAIUE 



he practises. He has no right of audience in the 

 m I ii fii if court ave in bankruptcy matters, ami 

 that only before the judge in bankruptcy nr u 

 divisional court of Queen's Bem-h. He lias certain 

 privileges. Thus, lie cannot be made liiihle for 

 statement!) honestly inaile l>y him a an advocate, 

 and In' ciiiiiiot IM- forced to reveal written or oral 

 communications mailf to him l>\ hi, clients. He 

 is privileged from arrest whilst at tend ing the 

 courts, but this is now of little ini|>ortance, for it 

 does not extend to punitive attachnif nt. 



Remiinerttlion. The remuneration of solicitors 

 is carefully provided for by various statute*, hut 

 often in practice much less than the allowed rate 

 is accepted and much more is exacted. The Sol- 

 icitors Act, 1876, allows a solicitor to make an 

 agreement in writing for a lump sum or otherwise 

 in lieu of the regular fees. The agreement must 

 be in writing signed by both parties to l>e binding 

 on the client, but a verlxal agreement is binding 

 on the solicitor. The amount agreed on is not 

 payable till the agreement has been examined and 

 approved of by the taxing-master, nor can any 

 action be brought on it. It is enforced by motion 

 before or petition to the proper court. These 

 provisions apply to contentious business. The 

 Solicitors' Remuneration Act, 1881, provides, as 

 regards non-contentions matters, that solicitor and 

 client may agree as to any mode of remuneration. 

 The agreement must IMS in writing and signed by 

 the_ party bound by it; it may be enforced by 

 action, and reviewed under any order for tax- 

 ation. A solicitor winning a case is entitled to 

 two seta of cost* (a) those between party and 

 party ; and ( b ) those between solicitor and client 

 (extra-judicial expenses in tin- terminology of 

 Scots law). The first are usually taxed as a matter 

 of course ; the other may be taxed on application 

 of either party. A solicitor cannot sue (hut may 

 counter-claim) for his costs till one month after he 

 has delivered a signet! bill, and except under special 

 circumstances taxation will not be ordered twelve 

 months after delivery of bill. The costs of taxation 

 are paid by the solicitor when more than one-sixth 

 is struck off his charges ; if less, the expense falls 

 on the client (see FKKS ). 



Solicitors' Lien. A solicitor has at common law 

 a twofold lien : ( 1 ) a general lien on all deeds and 

 papers which have come to him in his professional 

 capacity but this merely gives him a right of 

 retention till his claims are satisfied; (2) a par- 

 ticular lien ( mad.' more effectual by the Solicitors 

 Act, 1880) on property recovered or preserved by 

 his exertions. It may be actively enforced by 

 means of a charging order, which the court will 

 grant him on such pro|>crty. Collusive agreements 

 between the purl if* to deprive him of Iiis rights 

 will be set aside. He is not, however, allowed to 

 retain papers so as to prejudice the trial of an 

 action. He must give them up to be held subject 

 to his lien. In Ireland the law is practically the 

 ame on this subject as in England. 



f.mr. In Scotland the term solicitor is so 

 extensively used as almost to have superseded tin- 

 old designation of writer. The legal expression is 

 Law-agent. This includes Writers to the Signet, 

 Solicitors before the Supreme Courts, anrl Procura- 

 tors in the sheriff court*. They must have served 

 five years as indentured apprentices to a law-agent, 

 have passed examinations in law and general 

 knowledge, and been admitted by the Court of 

 Session. Writers to the Signet, &c, have still 

 certain privileges not here necessary to be dis- 

 cussed. In all cases stamp-duties are paid on 

 admission. Law -agents have a preference, in the 

 mature of hypothec, over expenses of process, and 

 also a right, similar to solicitors' lien, to retain 

 property in their hands. 



8 Cordery' Ijir K,/.iti,,,i In .Wi>rtor ; Begg, On 

 Laic Ayrnlt; nml E. B. V. Christian, A .S'Aorl lliftory 

 of Solifiton ( 181(7 ). 



Solidity. Sfi- MATTKR. 



SolidllllKUla. See Hoi 



Solidus, a Roman gold coin (see NUMISMATICS, 

 Vol. VII. p. ).-)-'). The 'solidus aureus' was 

 adopted by the Franks (at 87 to the Roman 

 iKiund) till the time of Pepin, who suppressed it; 

 but another solidus of silver, or 'solidus ar^f nt-u-' 

 the Ath of the libra or pound which had been 

 used only as a money of account, was soon after 

 made a coin. In later times tliis -Mil'or 'son." 

 like all other coins, underwent an infinity of varia- 

 tions in fineness and value (see LIVRE). On the 

 introduction of the decimal system (1703) into 

 France the sou was abolished, anil a piece of five 

 centimes (&th of a franc) substituted; but tin- 

 name continued in common use, and the old M>US 

 were retained in circulation. The solidus also 

 appears in the soldo of some parts of Italy, which 

 was substantially the same as the sou. A trace 

 survives in the s. of s. d. 



Soliman. See SOLYMAN. 



Soliimcn. a town of Prussia, situated 13 miles 

 E. of Diisseldorf and not far from the river Wupper. 

 Ever since the 12th or 13th century it has MM 

 famous for ita steel and iron ware, especially for 

 sword-blades, helmets, cuirasses, knives, scissors, 

 surgical instruments, &c., which are exported to 

 all parts of the world. These are made by the 

 workmen in their own home.s, and some 30,000 

 persons are employed in this industry throughout 

 the district. Sohngen has also iron-foundries, 

 cigar-factories, &c. Top. (1895) 40,843. 



Soils, JUAN DiAZ DE, Spanish navigator, was 

 born at Lebriia, between Cadiz and Seville, near 

 the middle of the 15th century. He was sailing 

 along with Pinzon when the latter discovered ( 1499) 

 the mouth of the Amazon. In 1515 he himself was 

 sent out, in coinniaiid of three ships, to tind a sea- 

 passage through the American continent that 

 should lead to the East Indies. This led to his 

 discovery of the Parana (i.e. the Rio de la Plata). 

 Hut he suffered himself to IKS drawn into an amlms- 

 cade by the warlike Charruas, who dwelt on ita 

 banks, and was killed by them ( 1516). 



Solitaire ( Pczonhaps solitarin.1 ), a bird allied 

 to the dodo, and like it now exterminated. It 

 lived on the island of Rod- 

 riguez, and was descrilied 

 by Legnat, a Huguenot 

 refugee, who in 1691 settled 

 with a small colony on the 

 island. In his Voyages et 

 .fn/itures Leguat describes 

 the solitaire as a large bird, 

 the male sometimes weigh- 

 ing 45 Ib. ; taller than n 

 turkey, the neck a little 

 longer in proportion, and 

 carried erect ; the head of 

 the male without comb or 

 crest, that of the female 

 with something like a 

 idow's peak above the 

 liill ; the wings small, and 

 I he bird incapable of flying, 

 nit using the wings to flap 

 itself or to flutter when 

 calling for ita mate, or as 

 * weapon of offence or 

 lefence ; the l>one of the wing thickened at the 

 extremity so as to form a round mass aliout the 

 "i/e of a musket-bullet; a roundish mass of feathers 

 nstead of a tail ; the plumage very full and 



Solitaire 

 (Paophapi iolitariut\ 



