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GAZETTE
W B
MARCH 1992
by Eamonn G. Hall, Solicitor
The Future of Legal Practice
The future of legal practice was
considered at the Corporate Counsel
1991 Fall meeting of the New York
Bar State Association. Lawyers gazed
into their crystal balls, found some
elements of the future both murky
and mysterious on some trends, but
crystal clear on others. Mr.
John S.
Luckstone,
the Vice Chairperson of
the Corporate Counsel Section and
General Attorney of Bell
Communications Research, Inc.,
summarised the issues in the
newsletter of the Corporate Counsel
Section of the New York State Bar
Association in January, 1992.
The New York lawyers started with
the grim economic realities of the
present day - the decline in legal
business after the boom years of the
1980s. They confronted such matters
as the future size and structure of
law firms and legal departments, the
structure of the firms and the
relationship between inside and
outside lawyers, the relative
importance of the profit motive in
outside practice, the use of
paralegals and part-time
professionals, the litigious nature of
our society and possible legislative
backlashes to it and growth and
decline areas of legal practice. Many
of the issues discussed are relevant to
lawyers in Ireland.
The panellists agreed that there
would be belt-tightening both in
firms and in-house law departments.
Big firms would pull back, and there
would be a trend towards more small
"boutique" firms that would
specialise in particular areas of the
law such as computers and
environmental control. Corporate law
departments would remain at almost
their present size, and there would
still be substantial work given to
outside lawyers. The bigger law firms
would accelerate the "up-or-out"
process with associates, but there
would be more lifetime senior
associate positions offered.
Partnerships would be at two levels
- voting privileges with risk-taking
and non-voting with indemnification.
In law departments of corporate
undertakings, the focus of legal
practice may shift away from reactive
advice-giving towards more active
involvement in the planning of
business activities to prevent
incurring significant legal liability, to
be more helpful and to be part of
the management team.
The New York lawyers considered
that more and more law-school
graduates and admitted lawyers
would go into business positions; the
glut of lawyers would drive them in
this direction. Firms would continue
to expand their overseas practices,
probably through affiliations with
existing foreign firms.
There was likely to be even more
litigation as a result of the ever
increasing amount of governmental
regulation in an increasingly complex
society. The New York lawyers
considered that litigation would
increase - perhaps not in the tort
and malpractice areas where
legislative restraints may be imposed,
but certainly in the administrative
and regulatory arenas.
The panellists agreed that
environmental law compliance,
intellectual property associated with
computers and software systems,
health care and international
commercial transactions would be
growing areas of legal practice.
Unfriendly mergers and buy-outs
would diminish, but friendly mergers
and acquisitions may well increase.
Also the availability of rapid
telecommunications for voice, data
and video-conferencing would allow
law firms to practise successfully in
small towns across the country,
where costs were lower.
The lawyers concluded that the
boom years of rapid growth in law
firms and in-house legal departments
were over, but the need for legal
advice and work would remain
strong. Lawyers in the future would
be less detached legal oracles and
more involved participants in the
business decisions of their clients.
This may create a challenge to the
practising lawyer to maintain one's
professional objectivity and integrity,
but would provide exciting
opportunities for personal growth
and satisfaction in providing legal
services of high quality and value to
the client.
New Barristers' Complaints Body
The first meeting of the Barristers'
Professional Conduct Tribunal was
held on 30 January, 1992. The
Tribunal, which has lay members
nominated by the Federation of Irish
Employers and the Irish Congress of
Trade Unions, will deal with
complaints from the public, solicitors
and others concerning the
professional conduct of barristers.
The members of the Tribunal are
Diarmuib O'Donovan SC
(Chairman),
Gerard Dempsey
(FIE),
Kevin Duffy
(ICTU),
Peter KellySC,
Kevin Feeney
SC,
Harvey KennyBL
and
Peter Somers BL.
The setting up of this new Tribunal
follows the adoption of a new Code
of Conduct, Constitution and
Disciplinary Code by the Bar last
year. Where either party to a
complaint is dissatisfied with the
Tribunal's decision an appeal may be
made to an Appeals Board chaired
by the former President of the
Circuit Court, The Hon. Mr. Justice
Peter O'Malley.
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