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GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1990
necessary for our profession that it
has become.
Funds were raised through the
sale fo the top floors of the
Solicitors Buildings to the Bar
Council, from the profession itself,
including the members' Prize Bond
Fund and by term loan from the
Society's bankers, the Bank of
Ireland. The construction team was
led by the late Terence E. Nolan,
architect, who had previously
worked with Jim on hospital
building projects in the North
Western Health Board. Because of
the age and nature of the building,
the initial major building contract
negotiated with G. & T. Cramptons
was on a time and materials basis
and was ultimately to cost £1.25m.
Building progress was carefully
monitored at the monthly meetings
of the Premises Committee. By
1978 the premises were ready for
the final transfer of the Society's
activities from the Four Courts to
Blackhall Place and in that year, in
the presidency of Joseph Dundon,
the premises were formally opened
by the then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch.
In subsequent projects, the
members lounge, bar and toilet
areas were expanded to facilitate
the use of the premises for
membership functions. In recent
years up to £0.5 million has been
spent in eradicating the effects of
acid rain and pollution generally on
the exterior of this two centuries
old building and in providing for the
expansion in the numbers of
students attending the LawSchool.
Ongoing work will still be required
but, today Blackhall Place is insured
for IR£16m, reflecting the wisdom
of the original difficult decision to
proceed.
While the Society's administra-
tion was transferred from the Four
Courts in 1978, the facilities there
have been progressively developed
to provide a service for members
working in the courts; further im-
provements are in hand.
R E T I R EMENT FUND
When the Finance Act 1975, made
improved provisions for self-
employed pensions, the Society
availed of the opportunity to
establish the Retirement Fund for
members in private practice, with
the Bank of Ireland Group as
trustees and fund managers. Today,
the Fund stands at over IR£14
million, and is growing every year.
Jimwill be particularly remembered
by more senior members approach-
ing retirement age for his constant
promotion of this Fund up and
down the country.
COUNC I L FUNC T I ONS
Jim's main strength has been as an
administrator. It requires strength
of character and not a little tact and
diplomacy each year to adapt to a
new President, a new Council, and
new Committees. Each year Jim
and the rest of the administration
of the Society appeared to glide
effortlessly from one presidency to
the next — a compliment indeed.
The servicing of the various
Committees of the Council,
maintaining their continuity and
clarifying the effect of any
proposed policy changes, is a
critical part of the efficient
functioning of the Society. During
Jim's period as Director General,
the number of committees, their
range of activities and their
importance — in serving both the
public interest and the profession
itself — has grown a hundred fold.
Specialist committees have been
established to deal with the areas
of litigation, taxation, conveyancing
and company law, which commit-
tees make representations to
Government and other agencies
where appropriate and issue
advices to members. A distillation
of fifteen years work by the
Conveyancing Committee will
shortly be supplied to members in
handbook form. Interaction
between the Taxation Committee
and the Revenue Commissioners
led to the introduction of self-
assessment in respect of Capital
Acquisitions Tax and the recent
joint production of an educational
video on the subject.
In 1975 there was the Lees'
enquiry into conveyancing and legal
costs, to be followed in the early
1980s by the Restrictive Practices
Commission inquiry into convey-
ancing and restrictions on adver-
tising by solicitors; and more
recently by the just published Fair
Trade Commission Report on Legal
Services. Those inquiries required
considerable involvement of Jim
and his staff as well as Council
members in respresenting the
Society's views on the matters at
issue and in commenting thereafter
on the Reports when published.
T HE E X P E RT
AS A C O U RT
W I T N E SS
MULTI-PROFESSIONAL
S E M I N A R
FRIDAY AFTERNOON
1 6 T H N O V E M B E R
I.E.I. CENTRE
DUBLIN.
FOR INFORMATION
CONTACT:
JOSEPH O'NEILL
OFFICE: (01) 713177
HOME: (01) 931088
With the enactment of the
Building Societies Act 1989, the
solicitors' monopoly in the
conveyancing area has been
legislatively eroded, but the
Society's representations to the
Minister for the Environment were
successful in ensuring that the
rights of the individual purchaser/
mortgagor to independent legal
advice were safeguarded in the
Act. The story is not yet complete
in that the relevant detailed
statutory regulations to bemade by
the Minister for Justice are still
awaited.
The mid 1980s sawconsiderable
efforts expended in bringing the
Society's internal affairs up to date.
The Guide to Professional Conduct
was published, and the Society's
Bye-Laws and Council Regulations
were revised and updated. The
removal of the restriction on adver-
tising by solicitors was debated at
length over three General Meetings
and eventually narrowly agreed to
in a ballot of members; the neces-
sary Regulations were made (S.I.
No. 344 of 1988), effective from
1 January 1989.
A major achievement in recent
years was the establishment of the
Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund to
provide professional indemnity
insurance for members at a
competitive cost. The Fund is now
in its fourth year, and, as of now,
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