The Gazette 1996

GAZETTE

JULY 1996

N E W S

Report on Council Meeting held on 14 June, 1996

J

6. Denham Committee Report

The f o l l ow i ng is a brief summary of I p r o c e e d i n gs at the me e t i ng of the Council of the Law S o c i e ty on 14 June, 1996.

solicitors was that this method wo u ld not ensure fair play. In recent me e t i ngs with apprentices on the Ad v a n c ed Course, disquiet had been expressed that the current r e c omme n d ed salary of £ 1 3 , 0 00 had b e en in place, without revision, for a number of years. He said that on the basis of research and discussion a c o n s e n s us eme r g ed that the basic figure should be in the region of ! £ 1 5 , 0 00 and he sought, and was granted by the Council, leave to amend the figures in his original motion to the above. The Council then debated a number of aspects of the motion including whether a particular figure should be r e c omme n d ed rather than a scale, whether a c omm i t t ee of the S o c i e ty should make the recommendation rather than the Council and whether the figures proposed reflected current realities in the marketplace. It was agreed that the Council should g i ve leadership | in this matter and the motion, in the a b o ve form, was approved without a vote.

| The Director General reported on the D e n h am Comm i t t ee Report on a Courts Comm i s s i on wh i ch had been forwarded to the Minister for Justice and had been approved by the Go v e r nme nt in principle. The S o c i e ty had r e c omme n d ed the establishment : of a courts service in the paper wh i ch ' the S o c i e ty had produced jointly with I the Bar Council in 1993. The only major difference b e t we en that | r e c omme nd a t i on and the proposals of the Wo r k i ng Group was in respect of ; ! the c omp o s i t i on of the proposed j Courts Service Board. The Council | supported the v i e ws wh i ch had been í expressed by the President in a S o c i e ty press release indicating I disquiet at the fact that it was proposed the Board wo u ld be j dominated by the judiciary. It was remarked with approval that a professional ma n a g eme nt s y s t em was required to run the courts e f f e c t i v e ly and the judiciary should act as j u d g es and not as administrators. It was agreed that the proposals represented a step forward, h owe v e r, although the key question was whether they wo u ld ever be implemented. It w a s agreed also that e v en if the n ew courts service was established, b a c k l o gs wo u ld never be significantly reduced unless court procedures were also modernised. The Council spent considerable time on a detailed examination of the draft amended By e - l aws of the Society which were designed to give effect to specific recommendations of the Re v i ew Working Group, as approved at the Special General Meeting on 7 March, 1996. The Policy ! De v e l o pme nt Executive, Ms. Mary | Keane, explained the many I amendments, in particular the complicated system required by the decisions that 50% of the Council retire annually, that each Council member 7. Draft Amended Bye-laws

1. David R.Pigot

The President paid tribute to the late j David R. Pigot, a Past President of the S o c i e t y, wh o wo u ld be greatly mi s s ed by his c o l l e a g u e s. The Council ob s e r v ed a minute's silence in his memo r y.

2. Motion - Lawyer/Client Privilege

"That this Council r e v i ews the policy of the S o c i e ty with regard to lawyer/client privilege generally and the p owe rs of the S o c i e ty in particular."

Proposer: James

MacGuill

Seconder: Hugh O 'Neill

This motion was adjourned to the July Council me e t i ng so that a position paper c ou ld be prepared in advance of the me e t i ng setting out the S o c i e t y 's legal p owe rs and its policy in relation to the s e e k i ng of information verification from client f i l es in the course of investigations by the S o c i e t y 's investigating accountants.

4. Abrahamson Case

The Chairman of the Education Comm i t t ee briefed the Council on d e v e l o pme n ts in the case in wh i ch 811 law undergraduates had brought judicial review proceedings against the Society.

3. Motion - Recommended Salary

| 5. The 'Capping* Issue

"That this Council proposes that the r e c omme n d ed salary for a n ew l y - qu a l i f i ed solicitor shall be based on a scale of £ 1 5 , 0 00 - £ 1 8 , 0 0 0 per annum."

The Director General briefed the Council on indications that the J Deloitte & T o u c he report wo u ld | r e c omme nd to Minister Rabbitte the introduction of guidelines to j u d g es relating to the level of c omp e n s a t i on awards in person injury actions. | F o l l ow i ng a discussion, the Council j e xp r e s s ed satisfaction that the crude Í 'capping' proposal appears to h a ve ! been d e f l e c t ed and agreed on the approach wh i ch might be taken by the S o c i e ty if judicial guidelines we re to be r e c omme nd e d.

Proposer: Philip Seconder: Niall

Joyce

Farrell

The proposer said it w a s s ome t i mes s u g g e s t ed that salaries for n ew l y- qualified solicitors should be determined by market forces but the perception amo ng n ew l y - qu a l i f i ed

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