The Gazette 1992

GAZETTE

N W

JUNE 1992

Soc i ety Reviewing Advert ising

Regulat ions

At the half-yearly meeting of the Law Society held on 11 May were l-r: Tom Men ton,

O'Keeffe & Lynch; F.X. Burke, and Peter Prentice, Past President, Law Society.

Report of the half-yearly meeting of

the Society held on 11 May, 1992.

The half-yearly meeting of the Law

Society that took place on 11 May

last was told that the Society is

currently reviewing the Solicitors

Advertising Regulations as there is a

view in the profession that the

regulations need to be tightened up.

The meeting also heard reports on

the current state of the Retirement

Fund, the Solicitors' Benevolent

Association and discussed the

Compensation Fund and the

promulgation of new scale fees in

the District Court.

Advertising

In response to a question from F.X.

Burke about whether it was

permissible for Solicitors to advertise

on the backs of buses, the Director

General of the Law Society, Noel

Ryan, said that there was no

prohibition on advertising in any

particular place so long as the form

of the advertisement conformed with

the Solicitors (Advertising)

Regulations. However, there had

been some disquiet during the past

few months about certain forms of

advertising engaged in by a small

number of solicitors and some

solicitors had been brought before

the Registrars Committee and had

given undertakings about their future

conduct in this regard. The Society

was currently reviewing the

advertising regulations, he said, but

the review would have to take

account of the provision of Section

63 of the Solicitors Bill, which

would make certain changes

including legalising fee advertising.

Therefore, the review could not be

completed until the Solicitors Bill

was enacted.

Gerard Griffin, Chairman of the

Registrars Committee, said that the

Committee would like to see a

general tightening-up and greater

clarity in the regulations. He

encouraged solicitors who are in any

doubt about the content of a

proposed advertisement to submit

the text to the Registrars Committee

for clearance in advance.

Compensation Fund

Mr. Frank MacGabhann said it was

a matter of extreme urgency that a

ceiling should be placed on the level

of claims payable under the

Compensation Fund. He asked what

the Society proposed to do if the

Government refused to impose a

ceiling and whether the Society

would take a case to the courts to

have the fund declared

unconstitutional. Replying, the Law

Society President, Adrian P. Bourke,

said that the Society was making

every effort to persuade the

Government to introduce an

appropriate amendment to the

Solicitors Bill. It was clear that the

profession was unwilling to continue

to tolerate an open-ended unlimited

fund. Adrian Bourke also referred to

the fact that the Society was seeking

to have new criminal offences

created in the Solicitors Amendment

Bill, 1991, which would enable

solicitors who misappropriate

clients' funds to be prosecuted more

readily. He also confirmed that a

constitutional action was being

considered by a number of

solicitors.

District Court Scale Fees

Michael D Murphy enquired what

the position was in relation to the

promulgation of new scale fees to

deal with the increased jurisdiction

of the District Court. Gerard Griffin

said that it was hoped that the

District Court Rules Committee

would shortly promulgate new scale

fees to deal with the increased

jurisdiction. The scales originally

proposed by the Department of

Justice were totally unacceptable to

the Costs Committee of the Society.

The President of the District Court

had now agreed on a level of fees

that was acceptable to the Insurance

Federation and the draft rules would

be shortly submitted to the Minister

for Justice for approval.

(Continued

on page 203)

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