190 / 244
GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER1979
Tomorrow's world?
PETER D. FINLAY, one of those recently qualified who
received his parchment, is seen here with his parents, Mr.
and Mrs. William D. Finlay. Peter was until recently
Executive Editor of the
Gazette.
He is taking up employ-
ment with a law firm in New York: we wish him all the
best for the future.
Well, Cork; Petty, Marian J., Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare;
Quirk, Jacqueline, Mount Richard, Carrick-on-Suir, Co.
Tipperary; Regan, Ursula, Crofton Airport Hotel, White-
hall, Dublin; Rohan, John G., 9 Leinster Lawn, Clon-
skeagh, Dublin; Stapleton, Susan, "Vandyke", Leixlip
Gate, Leixlip, Co. Kildare; Sweeney, Manus, 88 Marl-
borough Road, Donnybrook, Dublin; Tierney, Celine M.,
152 Mount Anville Park, Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin;
White, Kevin J., 10 Thomas Street, Midleton, Cork;
Wrafter, Agnes A., New Road, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
INVESTIGATIONS
Full
Photographic and Surveillance
Equipment
available for all assignments.
Contact:
CHASE RESEARCH,
70 NORTHUMBERLAND ROAD,
BALLSBRIDGE,
DUBLIN 4.
Telephone 762840
24-hour Service;
-
Shoppers at a New York department store now can
purchase everything from toothpaste to a television to a
will.
Between the postage stamps and the appliance sections
in the Times Square Store in Levittown, Long Island, is
the law office managed by attorney Richard Reiben, 29, a
1974 graduate of New York University Law School.
Reiben, who leases floor space, admitted the location is
not "dignified", and explained that the site was chosen
"because life today revolves around malls and department
stores".
The law office, claimed by Reiben as the first inside a
department store, created some controversy when it
opened last December. Edwin Freedman, president of the
Bar Association of Nassau County (N.Y.) said one area
of concern expressed by some members was the "very
low" prices charged by Reiben's firm. The fees are $45
for a single will, $75 for dual simple wills, $150 for an
uncontested divorce, $225 for purchase or sale of a
home, $250 for adoptions and $150 for incorporations.
Reiben said the fees make his services affordable to
working middle class people.
Freedman, speaking in general terms and not about
Reiben's firm, questioned whether any lawyer charging
such low prices could afford to give the client the time
necessary to consult with him. The undesirable result may
be the client diagnosing his own problem and then telling
the lawyer the remedy he needs, Freedman said, "For
example, a man may say he wants an uncontested
divorce, but how does he know until you have sat down
with him and informed him of his rights, about custody
and other things. Only then can that man make a
knowledgeable decision".
Reiben replies: "We spend the amount of time needed
with each client, even if it means we lose money", He said
referrals the firm was getting from other lawyers and from
a governmental agency indicated to him approval of the
quality of work being done.
He said it was idealism which led to his locating a law
firm in a department store. "There are a lot of
unrepresented people, and I wanted to try to reach them
and give them legal services for a fee they could afford".
Also, the hours of the firm are geared toward working
people. Besides being open weekdays, it is open evenings
and weekends. At the present time the office handles
about 10 clients per day.
Reiben believes some shoppers stop in the law office on
impulse, but mot do not, Many pick up a brochure
explaining the types of cases the firm will take and the
fees, and come back another time, he said. "A lot of
people learn about us through word-of-mouth. We've only
run one ad, and that was just before we opened".
However, Reiben says that there are plans to change
that policy after the firm opens offices in the Times
Square Stores in the Long Island communities of Babylon
and Oceanside.
— condensed from
"American Bar
Association
Journal".
193