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THE INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND
GAZETTE
OCTOBER 1979
VOL. 73
NO. 8
Annual Report of the Council
1978-79
1.1
To an increasing extent, the President is required to represent the Society in the
international area. This year, it was my privilege to attend the Annual Conferences of the
English, Scottish and Northern Ireland Law Societies, and the formal opening of the
Legal Year in London. I was also privileged to represent the Society for the first time ever,
at the Annual Conference of the American Bar Association, held in Dallas last August.
The Society was represented at the opening of the French Legal Year last January, by Mr.
Walter Beatty, Senior Vice-President, who has also represented the Society at
International Bar Association meetings during the year. To those who would question the
usefulness of such activities, might I say that the opportunities afforded by such contacts
enable the Society to keep abreast in a detailed way, with developments in, and problems
of, legal services in other jurisdictions.
1.2
At the outset of my year in office, I made it clear that my particular concern
would be to ensure that all practising solicitors were properly registered, and that their
accounts were adequately certified. This function of the Society, imposed upon it by
statute, is essential for the protection of the public and the profession. I am pleased now to
report that the situation is much improved, and that virtually all firms have accountants'
certificates to a current date. Those still in arrears are being pursued vigorously. A
regrettable matter which came to light is the failure of some certificates to measure up to
close scrutiny by the Society's staff. The accounting firms concerned have been reported
to their own Institutes for appropriate action.
1.3
As with my recent predecessors in office, I can only record complete dissatis-
faction with the outcome of the discussions with the National Prices Commission, and the
Ministers for Industry, Commerce and Energy, and Justice, in the matter of adjustment of
the statutory level of costs. For the future, it would appear that to an increasing extent,
the litigant, even though successful, will have to shoulder a large part of the costs of his
action. In the absence of a comprehensive scheme of civil legal aid this will impose a
heavy burden on the ordinary person. The question arises as to whether in some way, the
insurance industry can establish a legal aid scheme for the ordinary individual or family,
analgous to the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme.
1.4
The profession still has to face the inquiry by the Restrictive Practices
Commission into the conveyancing monopoly and the restriction on advertising. Present
indications are that the inquiry will take place early in 1980. In the meantime, the
INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND GAZETTE Vol. 73 No. 8 October 1979.
Published by the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
Executive Editor: Joseph B. Mannix.
Editorial Board: John F. Buckley, Charles R. M. Meredith, Michael V. O'Mahony, Maxwell Sweeney.
Printed by the Leinster Leader Limited, Naas.
The views expressed in this publication, save where otherwise indicated, are the views of the contri-
butors and not necessarily the views of the Council of the Society.
THE
PRESIDENT'S
REPORT
The President
Gerald Hickey