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GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1979
The One Day Course on
Civil Litigation
This seminar was the first of a series of thirteen which
are designed to run from the 11th of September up until
the 1st November in Blackhall Place. The philosophy
underlying this type of educational seminar could be
summed up in the phrase "learning by doing". By
contrast with courses which employ a mere academic and
lecture style approach, the emphasis here is placed on the
participation of those who attend. Personal involvement
takes the forms of discussion and exercises which involve
role playing. Real life situations are simulated. Access to
audio visual technology, including Close Circuit
Television (C.C.T.V.) contributes significantly to this
approach. Problem solving takes place in an environment
which ensures that should mistakes occur, as they
inevitably will, those who make them are cushioned from
the consequences in a way for which real life situations do
not allow. Admittedly there is no substitute for experience
in legal practice as is the case in every walk of life but it is
intended that this type of seminar or refresher course be
of a more practical nature than that characteristic of a
lecture or talk. In this sense a solicitor is helped in a
realistic way to deal with the various areas of law which
arise in the course of work.
The function of the Consultants to each course is
precisely to help participants to cope in a practical way
with the area under review. Their methodology is geared
to this end. As experts in the field, they make available
their experience to participants.
The justification for continuing this type of "learning
by doing" approach in one day seminars for solicitors
derives from the response of participants. They are given
the opportunity to judge the success or failure of each
course on its completion. This takes the form of filling in
an assessment sheet. When the results are quantified, we
get a picture of how participants have perceived the
relevance of the material. To date the response has been
overwhelmingly positive and the words of one solicitor
sums up the feelings of many. His general comment was
"I was vastly impressed and interested".
The one day course on Civil Litigation could be
regarded as a good example of what has been written
above. It was the first of the present series and took place
on the 11th of September in Blackhall Place. Professor
Richard Woulfe, the Director of Education opened the
seminar. The Director of Training Professor Laurence G.
Sweeney, Training Specialist Patrick Quinn, Education
Officer Nicholas Moore and tutors Geraldine Pearse and
Anna Hegarty were present. The Consultants on this one
day seminar were solicitors Bryan Strahan (Gerard
Scallon and O'Brien) and Noel Smith (N. T. Smith & Co.
and Good and Murray). The areas covered during the day
included pursuing a debt by summary summons in the
High Court and processing a High Court Action up to the
hearing. Thirty participants attended.
As an opening seminar in the present series of thirteen,
it was a hugh success in the opinion of those present, an
encouragement to those who planned it and to the
Consultants involved in giving it. The demand from
participants at the end of the day for another seminar on
Civil Litigation which was expressed both verbally and in
writing consequently came as no surprise.
INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF
IRELAND
Employment Register
Members and apprentices are reminded that the
Society keeps a register of
(0 Solicitors seeking Assistants;
(ii) Solicitors seeking Vacancies;
(iii) Apprentices seeking Vacancies.
Members or apprentices who wish to avail of this
service (which is free of charge) should write to:
NICHOLAS MOORE,
Education Officer,
The Law Society,
Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.
Expert Evidence
in Handwriting
T. R. Davis, M.A., B.Litt. (Oxon.), Lecturer in
Bibliography, University of Birmingham,
will give expert
forensic opinion on any kind of forged, anonymous, or
otherwise suspect document, whether written, printed, or
typed.
Department of English, University of Bermingham, P.O.
Box 363, Birmingham, B15 2TT, England. (Phone 021
472 1301 ext. 7081).
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