The Gazette 1972

Ruling on Courthouses

The Incorporated Law Society is to give careful study to

the Hight Court ruling which directed the Minister for

Justice, Mr. O'Malley, to have Drogheda Courthouse

put into a proper state of repair.

A spokesman for the society said today that the full

text of Mr. Justice O'Keeffe's order would be con-

sidered by a council meeting of the society in an effort

to ascertain whether it would now be possible to proceed

along similar lines in respect of several courthouses

throughout the country.

Said the spokesman:

It is generally recognised that

many court premises, particularly the district court

ones, are in an appalling state of repair—so much so

that people find it very difficult to work in them.

Our view is that proper premises should be available

in all cases so that the administration of justice can be

carried out effectively.

We will study Mr. Justice O'Keeffe's ruling with

great interest so as to ascertain whether if it is possible

for us to have similar orders made in respect of other

premises which, like the Drogheda Courthouse are in a

poor state of repair."

The order, by the President of the High Court, was

granted to the Drogheda Solicitors' Association. It

directed the Minister for Justice, under the Courthouse

(Provision and Maintenance) Act, 1935, to execute such

repairs and do such other work as might be necessary

to put the Drogheda court accommodation into proper

repair and condition.

(Evening Press,

18 April, 1971)

A Money-saver for Solicitors

The basic costs of Secretarial services have risen so

dramatically over the past few years, that management

has begun to take a hard analytical look at the financial

considerations of putting words onto paper.

Between 1960 and 1971 the average cost of a business

letter rose by 74% from 42p to 70p, a situation that has

hit the legal profession more than most, especially in

view of the fact that much of its work is repetitive.

It was with this in mind, the the Law Society decided

to acquire an IBM MT72 Typewriter, with its facility

for storing text for automatic reproduction, and intro-

duced its Precedent Bank and Engrossment Service. The

Service was introduced to save solictors both time and

money, although the reasons for justifying this supposi-

tion take some explaining.

In order to understand how the IBM MT72 works it

is necessary to take a close look at the typing process.

On average a typist makes an error every 75 to 125

words. When an error is made in the initial paragraphs,

rather than erase, the typist usually decides it is Quicker

to start a new page.

Often as the typist nears the end of a page she is

mwre likely to make errors, simply because she fears

having to re-type the whole page. Making carbon copies

also adds to the typing pressure due to the time and

difficulty involved in making corrections.

However, it is very often the author originating the

paperwork who finds that a change is necessary even

though the original text is free from typing errors.

Changes occur for many reasons — new information,

unclear wording, grammatical mistakes, etc. These can

occur many times in the case of legal documentation

and so single quite minor additions or deletions could

necessitate the re-typing of the entire document.

It is this that makes typing very expensive and IBM

found a way round the problem when it introduced the

concept of magnetic word storage to the typing process.

Every stroke typed is simultaneously recorded on a

magnetic medium so that when errors or alterations

occur, they alone have to be changed. All the unchanged

copy can be used again since it is recorded.

The unchanged copy can be re-produced as many

times as necessary entirely automatically at speeds up

to 180 words per minute. A good average typing speed

is 40 w.p.m., though very few typists in fact achieve it

because of error correction.

However, once the text is accurately recorded on the

magnetic medium the automatic typing process is error-

free. At the same time, because error correction is so

simple, the typist can work at her maximum draft speed.

The

overall effect of this is to considerably reduce

turnaround time and indeed make the typist a con-

siderably happier person. Complex layouts and tabular

work become simple, while repetitive text can be

automated. The text of the basic document is stored on

the magnetic medium used.

In the case of the MT72, it uses magnetic tape, which

has enabled the Law Society to store Precedents for the

folowing documents:

1. Power of attorney

2. General purpose partnership

3. Deed of discretionary trust

4. Deed of seven-year covenant for tax purposes.

It works very simply. The Society holds copies of the

required precedent, the basic text of which is stored on

magnetic tape. When you require an engrossment ready

for execution you make amendments and send it in to

the Society, who will return it with a top copy and one

carbon copy engrossed, ready for execution by the

parties.

The rates work out at about

£0.09p per folio

for the

whole job (precedent, engrossment and carbon copy)

and is extraordinarily good value.

Details of the service can be obtained from the Law

Society, who will also advise on other types of work

which can also be handled by the MT72. Order Forms

are included with the current issue of this Gazette.

181