The Gazette 1996

GAZETTE

JUNE 1996

on the grounds of permanent ill-health. He brought an action against the local authority claiming damages for breach of its duty of care, as his employer, to take reasonable steps to avoid exposing him to a health-endangering workload. Colman J held that the local authority was liable in negligence for the plaintiff s second nervous breakdown. [It is understood that this case is under appeal]. Conclusion There is now legal authority that employers may be liable for stress- related injury to employees. The crucial elements are the duty of care of the employer to provide a safe system of work, whether stress-related injury is reasonably foreseeable, the link between stress and the pressures of the employer's workload and what measures were taken to tackle the problem. • question of whether to proceed with such a development will be put to the solicitors' profession at the General Meeting which will take place in the Society on Thursday, 25 July. i The time is opportune for a significant I and imaginative step forward towards qualification education programmes. Is it not fitting that in this the European Year of Life Long Learning the Law Society takes a historic step forward and approves this mo ve to establish a Law School which will be a fitting tribute to the profession for generations to c ome? the development and provision of relevant apprenticeship and post- Control of an independent and well educated solicitors' profession is fundamental to the maintenance of respect for the individual, justice and the rule of law in this democratic state of Ireland. On 25 July 1996, the membership will be asked to approve a new set of bye-laws which will implement the far-reaching recommendations as approved at the Special General Meeting on 7 March last. We think the time is also ripe for the profession to take equally far- reaching decisions in the realm of legal professional education and training. The future is in your hands!

aware or ought to have been aware that his workload carried a real risk that he would have a breakdown, then the defendants were not negligent in failing to avert the breakdown of October 1974." The Court of Appeal held in Petch that there has been no breach of duty by the defendants. In Walker; the employer was held to be under a duty of care not to cause the employee psychiatric damage by reason of the volume or character of the work which the employee was required to perform. In Walker v. Northumberland County Council [ 1995] 1 All ER 737 Colman J in the Queen's Bench Division held, in what may become a leading case, that The Education of Solicitors for the New Millennium Continued from page 139 (3) the establishment of a set of written standards which will govern the content, aims and objectives of the new Higher Diploma in Professional Legal Practice course. The course will include (a) the compulsory estates, business and commercial law and practice, litigation and advocacy and (b) the pervasive subjects which will include professional conduct, solicitors' accounts, practice management, European Union law and revenue law. In addition, the legal skills modules which are currently employed on our courses will be enhanced and developed. Optional subjects will be provided and will include an enhanced Practice Management Module, General Management, Company Secretarial functions, Fund Management and Administration and Computer Training; (4) the teaching methodology on the new course will be by lecture, tutorial and workshop. Teaching schemes for each of these components will be clearly set and actively monitored and assessed; subjects of conveyancing, wills, probate and administration of

where it was reasonably foreseeable to an employer that an employee might suffer a nervous breakdown because of the stress and pressures of his workload, the employer was under a duty of care, as part of the duty to provide a safe system of work, not to cause the employee psychiatric damage by reason of the volume or character of the work which the employee was required to perform. In Walker, the plaintiff has suffered a nervous breakdown in 1986. He was off work for three months, returned to work and discussed his position with his supervisor who agreed that some assistance should be provided to lessen the burden of his work. Only limited assistance was provided; the plaintiff had to clear the backlog of paperwork; suffered a second nervous breakdown; was forced to stop work permanently and was dismissed by the local authority validation and accreditation of its higher diploma course from selected third level institutions. This will allow students to use the qualification as a means of pursuing alternative careers if they so choose. A N ew L aw School f or the P r o f e s s i on In order to implement the above proposals proper and adequate facilities will be needed for the running of more extended courses, including the provision of a greater number of post- qualification courses at CLE level. For many years now the idea of developing a purpose built law school has been mooted. The question is can the profession afford such a development? commercial operation on a self-financing basis. The new purpose-built school will offer value-for-money courses to both the student body and the profession. ; Opportunity now knocks; existing ] corporation buildings on the comer of i Woodlane, Hendricks Place and Blackhall Place have become available to the Society. A pro-active stance has been taken by the Law Society in i submitting plans for a new school to be J built on this site which aptly acts as a | natural book-end to Society buildings (5) the Society will seek external We believe that the entirety of the education function can be run as a

(see photo of architect's model). If planning permission is obtained the

! Patrick J. O'Connor,

Chairman,

Education

Committee

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