The Gazette 1996

GAZETTE

C O R R E S P O N D E N C E

APRIL /MAY 1996

Successors in Title

The Editor,

Law S o c i e ty Gazette,

Blackhall Place,

Dublin 7.

Dear Ma d am,

I May I reply to Mr. James J. O ' Co n n or

i (Jan/Feb '96 Gazette p . 3 8) by citing

'Irish Pedigrees - John O'Hart ( 1 9 2 3)

V o l ume I p.661:

"1601: The O ' Ha g a n s, wh o se

! principal seat was at Tu l l a g h o g e, were

the Law - g i v e rs to the O ' Ne i l l s,

Princes of Tyrone."

A leg of the seat may since have

mo v ed and a s e c o nd client acquired

but like the battery - still working!

But for recent ' R e v i e w ', consideration

of a family career c h a n ge wo u ld

have been called for, n ow h owe v e r,

l o o k i ng forward to the

Quatercentenary!

Yours sincerely,

Donal P O 'Hagan,

Donal P. O'Hagan

& Co.,

Courthouse

Square,

Dundalk,

Co.

Louth.

The Editor,

Law S o c i e ty Gazette,

Blackhall Place,

Dub l in 7.

Dear Ma d am,

I refer to the interesting letter written

to y ou by James J. O ' Co nn o r,

Principal and Senior Partner of M.J.

O ' Co n n or & Co., Solicitors of

We x f o r d, published in the

January/February 1 9 96

Gazette

where

he states that wh en his daughter,

Catherine, j o i n ed his practice in July

1993, she b e c ame the fourth

generation in an unbroken line to do

so, and he went on to enquire h ow

many firms in Ireland could join them

in that tradition.

I can c on f i rm that the firm of Pearts

was c omme n c ed in or around 1883 by

my Great-Grandfather and that I am

the fourth generation in this firm in an

unbroken line.

Yours sincerely,

Michael D.

Peart,

Pearts

Solicitors,

24-26 Upr. Ormond

Quay,

Dublin 7.

Continuing Legal Education

The Editor,

Law S o c i e ty Gazette,

Blackhall Place,

Dublin 7.

Dear Madam,

I recently attended an excellent

seminar in the Law S o c i e ty on the

1995 Conditions for Sale. I understand

that this seminar had also taken place

in v e nu es outside of Dublin.

The cost of this seminar was £ 3 5. In

principle, I feel that as members of the

Law Society we should not be

charged by our Society to be

informed as to changes they have

made, on our behalf, to a document as

fundamental as the standard Contract

for Sale. Such seminars should be free.

Continuing legal education is vital for

our profession and the Society should

be acting to encourage as many

memb e rs as possible to participate in

s ame - a well informed profession

wo u ld lead, no doubt, to less

n e g l i g e n ce claims!

Yours sincerely,

Patricia

McNamara,

McNamara

Company,

60 Upr Grand Canal

Street,

Dublin

The Editor,

The

Gazette,

Law So c i e t y,

Blackhall Place,

Dublin 7.

Law Society Reforms

Dear Ma d am,

In years to c ome it may be regarded as

a test of o n es loyalty to the

profession: the tiny proportion of our

membership wh o endured to the end

of this mo n t h 's Special General

Me e t i ng will not forget it in a hurry.

The hotly contested, s ome t i mes

tetchy, debate wh i ch lasted the guts of

six hours heralds a n ew, and it is to be

hoped constructive, era in the

S o c i e t y 's history. A f ew c omme n t s:

aimed as much towards those w h o did

not attend as those w h o did:-

1. There was a marked "us and them"

atmosphere at the meeting. Ma ny

of those w h o have served the

S o c i e ty d e v o t e d ly for the past

generation or so appeared (not

without reason) to feel t h ems e l v es

under attack from the reformers.

An ima t ed and constructive debate

emph a s i s ed this divide but it must

be put aside in the interests of the

profession as a wh o l e. If, as o ne

speaker asserted, the purpose of

aspiring to high o f f i ce in the

S o c i e ty is to a c h i e ve "power and

influence", let us h o pe d e v o u t ly

that the (mo s t ly y o un g e r)

contributors in favour of reform are

not simply s e e k i ng to replace the

old brigade and create a n ew inner

circle.

2. H o w e v er I do not b e l i e ve this to be

the case. I am c o n v i n c ed that what

was said in favour of reform was

said with a g e nu i ne c omm i tme nt to

the urgent n e e ds of the profession:

and that those w h o d e f e nd ed to

s ome measure the status quo did so

largely for similarly altruistic

reasons. No te well that the S o c i e ty

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