The Gazette 1981

GAZETTE

MARCH 1981

THE LAW SCHOOL — CONCENTRATING THE MIND That the prospect of being hanged in the morning concentrates one's mind wonderfully is now part of received wisdom. It is, in fact, good journalism rather than good research; those who have been hanged in the morning have failed, more often than not, to record - in deathless or even deadly prose — the state of their mental concentration on the night before. There is no doubt, however, that the knowledge that you are to expound on the morrow — and all the morrow — to some ninety odd apprentices on an area of legal practice in which someone believes you have an expertise, does concentrate your, mind wonderfully — hopefully earlier than the night before. The concentration of the mind is one of the very real, if slightly selfish, advantages of being a contributor to the Professional or Advanced courses in the Society's Law School. Instead of jogging along in a habitual pattern — even being comfortable in the pattern, if one allows for the unpredictabilities of one's clients and the idiosyncrasies of one's colleagues — one has to explain not merely how something is done in practice but why it is done that way and, indeed, why it is done at all. Habits suddenly need explanations. The finding and exposition of the explana- tions are discovered to be rewarding and refreshing; practitioners have found in every case when they acted as a consultant or tutor in the Law School that their knowl- 1 edge of the subject in which they are instructors-teachers- counsellors has been deepened and widened. Not to be ignored either are the advantages of meeting and exchang- ing views and information with colleagues specialising in the same subject. The Society is very grateful to the two hundred or so solicitors —and a handful of other professionals - who have contributed to the work of the Law School, your

Law School, and is proud to record the selflessness of practitioners who have unhesitatingly shared with the students - the solicitors of the future - their knowledge, their experience and the expertise which they have stored and built up — in some cases over many years - without any thought of hugging that knowledge and experience to themselves. The Law School cannot overly impose on their practi- tioners-teachers; no one should devote so much time to the Law School that he or she becomes "turned ofT'. The way forward is to have a bank of practitioners ready to contribute as consultants and tutors and to call on them sparingly; in this way contributors will maintain their interest and zest. That is why your Society is now appeal- ing to more practitioners to put forward their names as contributors to the Law School. Tutors are usually solici- tors qualified two or three years or more, while consul- tants tend to be more senior. Solicitor consultants are currently paid £50 a day and solicitor tutors £30 a day for their days "on" and the Society recoups travelling expenses for those practising outside Dublin. The syllabus for the Professional course covers Civil and Criminal Litigation, Labour and Social Welfare Law, Family Law Conveyancing, Probate and Administration, Wills and Settlements, Landlord and Tenant Law, Insolvency Commercial Law, Capital and Income Taxation Company Law and Partnership. Practitioners - and please remember the new training system is a practice- orientated one, where the students learn the skills and procedures of a solicitor in a "learning-by-doing" atmos- phere - who have built up expertise in any of these areas are asked to volunteer their services as consultants or tutors in their own specialities by writing to Miss Desiree Flynn or Miss Raphael Mathews, full-time tutors in the Law School, Blackhall Place, Dublin 7. In some areas contributors are thinner on the ground than in other areas (and therefore more in demand) but in every case volunteers are recorded as potential consul tants or tutors. Practitioners who are already contributing and those who have already volunteered need not write again to the Society. 6

The Law School, Blackhall Place REQUIRES Tutors and Consultants in the following areas

Conveyancing, Capital Taxation, Landlord and Tenant, Planning Law, Insolvency, Income Tax, Wills and Settlements, Commercial Law, Company Law, Criminal Law] Civil Litigation, Family Law, Labour Law, Probate. Applications to and further details from either Miss Desiree Flynn or Miss Raphael Mathews (full-time tutors) Tel. 710711 ext. 75 Existing contributors, either as Consultants or Tutors, need not apply in response to this appeal — their continuing service is needed and appreciated.

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