The Gazette 1936-40

The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society ol Ireland

9

JUNE, 1936]

Henry had also served on the Council. We have also to deplore the loss of Mr. Raymond French, who for many years acted as one of our Scrutineers. Mr. H. F. Leachman might well be described as the " grand old man " of our profession, having been admitted so far back as the year 1859, and when he retired in 1927 had been in practice for the long period of 68 years. Mr. Reginald Dix has recently passed away; he was a regular and honoured attendant at our general meetings. To the relatives of all those who have passed away during the last half-year we offer our sincere sympathy. During the past few months 26 Solicitors have joined our Society, and while we welcome this addition, I would again earnestly repeat the plea so often made by my predecessors in office : that every practising Solicitor should become a member of our Society. In my opinion they owe it as a duty to do so, and thereby strengthen the hands of the Council which is constantly engaged in safeguarding and watching over the interest of the profession as a whole. Membership of our Society confers many benefits, and to those who have held aloof I would say in all earnestness : does not loyalty to your profession demand that you should co-operate with your professional brethren ? There must be, roughly speaking, 400 practising Solicitors who have not so far joined the Society, and I earnestly appeal to them to do so. To put forward only one aspect of the case : is it reasonable that our Society should be constantly engaged in protecting the interests of those who, while deriving the benefits which accrue, do not join the Society. I appeal specially to country practitioners, first, because they as a body are well represented on the Council; and secondly, the extended jurisdiction con– ferred by Circuit and District Courts calls for, I may say, unceasing watchfulness on many subjects affecting the country practitioner. May I in this connection take the opportunity of saying that the utmost harmony and co-operation exists amongst the members of our Council, and as a country practitioner pay a well-deserved tribute to the valuable contribution which the Dublin practitioners who are members of the Council

make to the work of that body. This, no doubt, is only what one would expect, but I think, for the information of country members, it should be recognised and gratefully acknowledged. During the past months the Courts of Justice Bill has been receiving the careful con– sideration of our Council. It has passed the Committee stage, and we can now look forward to its coming into force with what we believe will be resultant benefit to both the public and our profession. The amend– ments and suggestions offered by your Council have been favourably received, and we believe that they will tend to changes for the better in many directions. In these days when personal injuries cases resulting from motor accidents occupy so much of the time of our Courts, I may refer to a matter of some importance to our pro– fession in regard to obtaining information from doctors attached to public hospitals as to the nature and extent of injuries sustained by a person who is a patient there, without the consent of the injured person. The Medical Council have laid down and, I think, quite rightly as a matter of etiquette, that a doctor should not without the patient's consent disclose any informa– tion, and that there should be established complete confidence between one who receives and one who renders the service. The provision of absolutely essential law books necessitated by changes in law and practice still continues to engage the earnest attention of the Council, and a Special Committee is dealing with the question. It was hoped that the various interests affected the Government, the Bar and Universities would co-operate with the Solicitors, but it is regrettable to find that there does not appear any prospect of this hope being realised. To write and publish even one of the many necessary books is an expensive undertaking, and we are at present considering and taking steps to ascertain what financial support may be expected from our own profession, which, apart from private enterprise, seems likely to be left to bear the burden alone. I am, however, glad to say that I understand some public-spirited members of the Bar are either actually at work or contemplate the high