The Gazette 1984

GAZ E T TE

APRIL. 1984

Authority. In strict legal practice, this means that the Borrower, who, in Mr. Carroll's own words, is a person who might not otherwise be able to provide his own home, is forced to close the purchase on bridging finance so that he has title to execute the Mortgage to the Local Authority. 2. Some, if not all. Local Authorities appear to require that the Deed of Assurance to the Borrower be stamped before they will release the loan cheque to their own solicitors. This means that the Borrower has to provide anything up to £ 1,000 stamp duty in advance of the closing when in fact he is entitled to borrow 90% of the stamp duty and legal costs from the Agency. Both these points give the impression that the machinery for obtaining loan cheques was dreamt up by a bureaucrat rather than a lawyer and the effect is to negative the advantages of the Housing Finance Agency Scheme with regard to the lending of stamp duty and legal fees in addition to the purchase price of the house and to put the Borrower in a very difficult position with regard to the obtaining of bridging finance and short-term finance for the above purposes. Yours faithfully, Kirwan & Kirwan, Solicitors, 1 Rowe St., Wexford. 22nd February, 1984 Dear Sir, As a Member may I through your column object to a representative of the Council of the Incorporated Law Society stating to a Law Students Congress (as reported in the Irish Times of Monday, 20th February) that Solicitors are widely seen by the public "as elitist money-grabbing crooks". No evidence is adduced by our colleague that the public perceive us as such and to say that they do so does nothing to enhance our reputation. There are of course, certain persons both in the media and in the political arena who do not have a high regard for the Profession but they do not constitute the public nor can they be said to speak for them. Although there is room for much needed reform in legal practice and although there may be a small minority of Solicitors who do not meet the required standards of the Profession, this does not justify the bald statement that Solicitors are perceived as " c r ook s ". The speaker does not highlight the compensation fund established to protect the public against fraud and heavily contributed to by Solicitors nor does he highlight the extra disciplinary powers now being sought by the Society from the Government. He should also have mentioned that there is a responsibility on the public in choosing a Solicitor to satisfy themselves both as to his competence and expertise and perhaps also as to whether he carries Professional Indemnity Insurance. It is my contention that the stage has not yet been reached whereby the public perceive our Profession as described by our Council Member but unless serious consideration is given by Practitioners to their public image that day may not be far away.

Walter Conan Ltd., Ac ad emi c - Le g a l -C i v i l -C l e r i c al Ro b ema k e r s. Telephone - 97/ 730 - V7ISS7

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