The Gazette 1996

GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

N E W S

Society of Young Solicitors Autumn Conference 1995

The Autumn Conference of the Society of Young Solicitors was held in Dromoland Castle, County Clare during the first weekend of November 1995. The Conference was held in association with the Young Bar Association, and we were delighted to welcome a large contingent of barristers. Extra accommodation was required in the Clare Inn Hotel due to the number of delegates attending. The lectures on Saturday morning were very well attended, due mainly to the quality of the speakers and the relevance of the topics. John Gordon, Commercial Litigation ". Members of the SYS and of the Bar were given an understanding of the many strategies and ploys devised and employed by John Gordon and his colleagues during years of practice in this area. The next speaker, Gary Byrne of BCM Hanby Wallace, Solicitors, dealt comprehensively with two issues in employment law which are of concern not only to practitioners of labour law but also to all solicitors doing general commercial work. "Recent Developments in relation to Acquired Rights " illustrated the increasing range of circumstances in which a transfer of a business or part of a business for the purposes of the Acquired Rights Directive will be deemed to have occurred. Mr Byrne's discussion of Restrictive Covenants in Employment Contracts brought the audience up to date on the attitude of the courts and of the Competition Authority in this area. The lecture notes of both speakers contain very useful guidance for solicitors in these areas. The SYS lecture series in bound volumes is currently being brought up to date and will be available to the profession. Details will be circulated in due course. SC, gave a wide-ranging and insightful talk on "Tactics in

Pictured at a meeting to confirm, the details of National Irish Bank's sponsorship of the Society of Young Solicitors Spring Conference were l-r: Michael Keane, General Manager - Banking, National Irish Bank; Paul Marren, Chairman SVS; Dave Allen, Marketing Manager, National Irish Bank and Wendy Hederman, Public Relations Officer, SYS.

During the afternoon, delegates built up an appetite for the banquet dinner by various outdoor activities such as horse riding, clay pigeon shooting, golf, archery and rowing on the lake. Over 300 delegates met in the magnificent banquet hall in Dromoland to dine, drink and dance until well past dawn. The Honourable Judge Johnson gave a thought-provoking speech after dinner with colourful anecdotes which entertained us all. As usual, we are indebted to our sponsors, who helped make the Conference a success and relatively affordable for younger solicitors. They are Pearts, Doyle Court Reporters, Cara Data Processing, Seagrave Daly, Behan & Associates, Sweet & Maxwell, Primecourt, Rochford Brady, Connolly Lowe, Star Computers, Cyril O'Neill & Co., and Brady & Company. The SYS would also like to thank the Bar Association for its contribution. The SYS is grateful to the Investment Bank of Ireland for its support over the last decade. The SYS is delighted

to welcome National Irish Bank as its main sponsor for 1996 and hopes that the relationship will be a long and fruitful one. Registration forms for the Spring Conference (22-24 March 1996) are enclosed with this Gazette. Society of Young Solicitors Spring Conference 1996 The next SYS Conference, being held in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Young Solicitors, will take place on 22, 23 and 24 March 1996 in the Connemara Coast Hotel, Galway. Lecture topics are: Unfair Contract Terms, The Internet for Lawyers and Package Holidays Law Registration Forms are enclosed with this Gazette. Kindly sponsored by National Irish Bank.

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