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GAZETTE
A
PRIL
1990
Council of the Bars and Law Societies of the E.C.
(CCBE)
First European Lawyers' Conference
• How does E.C. law affect your client and your everyday practice?
• The future of the profession.
• Co-operation between lawyers in Europe.
• Working groups on various aspects of E.C. law.
Brussels, 14th-15th February 1991
Irish Solicitors in London Bar
Association Second Charity Ball
IContd. from pi 75)
solicitors but of English solicitors
too. Corporate tables at the Ball
were taken by leading London firms
Clifford Chance and Barlow Lyde &
Gilbert. There were partners and
other lawyers present from all of
the other major firms of lawyers in
London, including a large presence
from my own firm Linklaters &
Paines.
There were also lawyers present
from firms in other parts of Europe
and in particular the recently-
merged leading Dutch-Belgian
partnership of Loeff Claeys Verbeke
had a corporate table. It is good to
know that in the run-up to 1992 our
Ball is providing a social forum for
lawyers from different countries in
Europe to meet and exchange ideas
in an informal manner!
Keith Oliver of London firm Peters
& Peters, a prominent member of
AIJA ("Association Internationale
des Jeunes Avocats") in the UK,
also contributed to the international
flavour of the evening by arranging
a large party of London-based AIJA
members. They included Tony
Seddon, the former UK Vice
President of AIJA, who is Chairman
of the Committee which is organ-
ising the 1991 AIJA Congress to be
help in London.
The evening began with a
champagne reception in the Bird
Hall at the Natural History
Museum. The Natural History
Museum is an impressive vast
Cathedral-like neo-Romanesque
building erected in the 1870s. The
giant Central Hall has a great
vaulted iron roof and a monumental
stair case leads from the Hall to the
upper galleries. Towering over the
Hall is a huge skeleton of a dinosaur
- although those who looked
carefully would have seen a plaque
near its feet proclaiming that it is
a mere plaster-cast copy of the
original dinosaur on display in
Philadelphia. It would be too much
to expect that revellers would be
allowed to frolic around a several-
million years old skeleton!
Dinner took place in the Central
Hall immediately after the reception
and as diners flocked in to the Hall
the great dinosaur appeared to be
eerily emerging from a mist,
cleverly created by our lighting
contractor, who had put dry ice at
its feet. Our caterers served a
magnificent dinner, which was
followed by the speeches. Dancing
then took place to a five-piece band
"Let's Dance" led by the energetic
and effervescent Gus Kahan, who
tempted even the most staid on to
the floor!
A raffle was held during the
evening - it was ironic and
particularly fitting that the first
prize in our raffle, a return trip for
two to Ireland, kindly donated by
Aer Lingus, was won by John
Randall of The Law Society. The
principal aim of our Association is
to press for the re-qualification of
Irish solicitors in England and Wales
and the progress which has been
made on this front to date would
not have been possible without the
tremendous help which John
Randall has given to me over the
last two years. We were all de-
lighted when fate rewarded him in
this way. John is a great fan of
Ireland and we are delighted that he
will have an opportunity to visit
Ireland for a reason other than to
attend a meeting in Blackhall Place
and have no doubt that he and
Marie will very much enjoy their
stay.
As well as the Aer Lingus prize
and the magnificent pieces of
crystal donated by Murray
Sweeney, other raffle prizes were
donated by the Londonderry Hotel
in Park Lane, London and by Board
Failte and Ryanair.
We are indebted to Ballygowan
Spring Mineral Water Company,
who supplied Ballygowan mineral
water for the evening free of
charge.
As with last year, a very special
word of thanks is due to Ray Cotter
of Rayprint in Dublin, who printed
our invitations and programmes
free of charge. Once again it
amazed me how Ray and his staff
tolerated, not only the fact that I
sent everything to them at the last
minute, but that I then proceeded
to telephone them on several
occasions to change the pro-
gramme around!
I would especially like to thank
the other members of the
Organising Committee, Anne
Counihan, who is Vice-President of
our Association, Philip Lee and
Victor Timon. Special thanks are
also due to my own firm, Linklaters
& Paines, for the support and
encouragement which they gave to
me in connection with the organ-
isation of the Ball. I am particularly
grateful to all those who attended
from Linklaters and especially to
Hilary
Lord
and
Andrew
Carmichael, partners in the firm,
who were in my party and sat with
me and the guests. Andrew in
particular deserves special thanks
for his patience throughout!
Everybody who was present
agreed that the Ball was a
tremendous success; it is now even
more firmly entrenched in the
London legal social calendar.
Perhaps many Gazette readers who
did not attend this year will
consider doing so next year!
As well as providing everyone
present with an evening to remember
and further promoting and enhanc-
ing the position of Irish solicitors in
London, the Ball has a welcome
result on the financial front too.
Although I am still waiting for some
bills (and some funds!), from my
preliminary calculations I have
estimated that this year's Ball has
raised just under £15,000 (sterling!)
for the benefit of the Irish Youth
Foundation. This certainly makes all
the hard work worthwhile.
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