The Gazette 1993

MAY 1993

GAZETTE

N S Council Decides to hold General Meeting on Finance Act W E

At its meeting on Friday, 16 April, the Council of the Law Society decided to hold a Special General Meeting of members of the profession on Thursday, 17 June, 1993 to consider the progress that had been made in overcoming the difficulties posed by the provisions of Part VII of the Finance Act, 1992 in relation to confidentiality and the administrative burden that the provisions would impose upon solicitors. The Chairman of the Taxation Committee reported to the Council that an assurance had been obtained from the Revenue I Commissioners on the issue of j confidentiality and in no instance would a solicitor have to name a client on whose behalf a payment had been made. There had also been considerable progress on resolving some of the other difficulties arising from the legislation. Council members were unanimous in their congratulations to the Taxation Committee on the progress that had been achieved through negotiations with the Commissioners. The Council decided that, in the light of the motion passed at the Special General Meeting held in July, 1992, members of the profession must be given an opportunity to consider the matter. It was decided, therefore, that while the issue would be discussed at the Half Yearly Meeting at the Annual Conference in Connemara, a Special General Meeting should be held in June at which a specific motion would be put to the members of the profession. The Council discussed the widespread reaction in the profession the article in the Sunday Business Post which was critical of single practitioners and small firms. The Council agreed that the reaction had exposed a deeper issue, namely, that Society Policy - Sole Practitioners

The Council decided that the information provided by the survey was a further indication that the issue of remuneration in the profession would have to be addressed. It was proposed that a high-level sub-committee would sit to consider the issue further, comprising the Chairman of the Education, Compensation Fund, Registrar's and Remuneration/Costs Committees respectively. It was also suggested that the Society should try to assess the number of solicitors required to meet the demand for legal services in this country and that perhaps this work would need to be done by an independent expert. The Council was informed that the 1991 Solicitors (Amendment) Bill had been withdrawn and would be replaced by a new Bill. The Society had been successful in having over 100 amendments accepted by the Department of Justice. Negotiations were continuing on some crucial issues including a cap on the Compenation Fund and the Society felt hopeful of making progress on this issue. It was hoped to have a meeting with the Minister for Justice in the very near future. It was unlikely that in the event of a new Bill being introduced, it would be circulated in the Dail before the Autumn session. Solicitors (Amendment) Bill

there was a perception by sole practitioners and smaller firms that the Society was not fully taking their views and interests into account. While this was emphatically not the case, nonetheless the perception needed to be dealt with and it was recognised that there was a need to communicate better to the profession the activities undertaken by the Council and the Society on behalf of all members of the profession. For example, the efforts and intensive lobbying that had been undertaken to try to ensure that Section 29 (2) of the Solicitors' Bill (which would permit the Society to specify different rates of contribution to the Compensation Fund) was removed from the legislation had not be sufficiently emphasised to the profession at large and particularly to sole practitioners and small firms. It was suggested that there was a need to strengthen contact with small firms and sole practitioners. The Chairman of the Remuneration and Costs Committee gave the Council a preliminary overview of the results of the survey that had been sent to every practice on remuneration and costs. He said there had been a very high rate of response to the survey. 64% of replies had been received from sole practitioners. Many respondents had indicated that areas of practice such as family law, landlord and tenant, social welfare and employment law were quite unprofitable forms of work. A majority of respondents also felt that conveyancing was unprofitable and that undercutting was becoming a problem. It appeared that many practices relied on litigation and probate to sustain viability. The survey indicated that as many as 20% of respondents did not have a clear picture of how much it cost to run their offices and had not calculated what the profit element of their turnover was. Financial Pressure in the Profession

Education Review

The Chairman of Education Committee reported that the

Education Review Group had prepared its report. A special meeting of the Education Committee had been held and it had made recommendations on foot of the report and both were now being put before the President of the Society for consideration. •

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