The Gazette 1994

289 / 432

GAZETTE AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1994
share anything he was a perfect
confidant". His room, he told Ralph,
had 223 briefs on the floor; "I tell Mrs
Hayes that she must never dare to
move one of them - she complains that
the room is impossible to clean. But
any disorder in a system is fatal. 1
know where to put my hands on
everything."
Mr de Vere White's master died
leaving him in charge of the office at
the age of 24, with a ready-made
clientele mostly of country landowners.
"The Horse Show made very little
difference in the office. None of the
staff was given time off to attend
during the week but country clients, up
for the show, dropped in to ask
questions. It was always interesting to
see in person someone who, up to
then, had been a name in white paint
on a black tin box." (The
Remainderman).
Most young men in his books are
dependant upon older solicitors,
frequently shown as pompous and
didactic and regarding clients as an
interruption in a day's work, hazards in
a professional minefield. Two older
men who have a wider vision are
Stephen Foster and Batley, a law clerk.
Mr Stephen is attempting to develop
his traditional family firm over the
ineffective reservations of his partners
by seeking the business of the "new
men" coming into prominence in
business life. He is keenly aware of the
potential damage of a scandal over a
will to which he might have subscribed
his name as witness the day after the
testatrix had signed. His story is tightly
plotted and very well integrated, with
the widest gallery of human nature,
including many varieties of solicitor, in
any of his novels.
These include the vaguely disreputable
client who recognises the utility of a
respectable firm of lawyers and who
"glanced at the contract. He never read
one. It weakened his hand if, later, he
had to take an action for negligence
against a solicitor" and the partner's
wife who reflected that "the office
produced money, and not always as
much of that as one had been led to
expect. Apart from that it breeded only
dullness and routine and the worst kind
of worry".
Stephen Foster is a leader in the
profession. Mr Batley in The
Remainderman has given 45 years'
service as a law clerk in Ely Place,
silently resenting his employer and
Michael Whaley's master, Mr Daunt.
When Michael is told by Mr Daunt that
he would not approve of him going to
Trinity to further his education, Mr
Batley, up to then a cypher going
through the professional motions,
reveals an unexpected side to his
personality, urging Michael to read
books on law and politics which he has
collected: "I hoped when you began to
read you would come to see what a
wonderful thing the law is. I want you
to look at it through the eyes of great
men. . . I buy one every year. I've read
them so often. I know them by heart.
Law is a beautiful thing when you read
that class of book. We can't live
without it. It's when you get it in its
raw state that it bores you and sickens
you. But these were great men. When I
read them I knew a man could be
proud of being a lawyer." Later Mr
Batley is led away after he has hurled
his employer's papers out of the
window into the street, but not
before he has presented his library
to Michael.
Mr de Vere White's experiences in
the practice of law would have
enriched and given much food for
thought to his literary impulse and his
interest in human nature and its
idiosyncrasies. His work is a legacy
by an Irish lawyer of great literary
merit. It will give pleasure to many
for ages to come.
*Daire Hogan is a partner in the firm
McCann FitzGerald •
English Agents: Agency work
undertaken for Irish solicitors in
both litigation and non-contentious
matters - including legal aid. Fearon
& Co., Solicitors, Westminster
House, 12 The Broadway, Woking,
Surrey GU21 5AU.
.
Fax: .
T h e I r i sh
S o c i e t y f o r
E u r o p e an L a w
FIDE
XVI Congress of the International
Federation for European Law (FIDE)
Rome, 12-15 October 1994
Under the patronage of His
Excellency, the President of the Italian
Republic
Topics
• The Principle of Subsidiarity
• Social policies in the Community
Legal Order and the European
Economic Area
• Liberalisation of Economic
Activities and Privatisation of
Enterprises in relation to
Competition Law
National rapporteurs from the Irish
Society for European Law will present
their reports to the Rome Congress.
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of the
Society will be held in the
Commission Offices of the European
Union in Molesworth Street, Dublin 2
on October 20, 1994 at 6.00 p.m. The
Chairman, Vincent Power, will deliver
a lecture reviewing legal developments
in the European Union. A wine
reception will follow.
Journal
Volume 3, No. 1 1994 of the Irish
Journal of European Law edited by
James O'Reilly, SC and Anthony M.
Collins, BL, will shortly be sent to
members.
Persons interested in acquiring further
information, including details of the
Society, should contact the Secretariat,
Office of the Solicitor, Telecom
Eireann, 52 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2.
Tel: (01)671 4444 Ext. 5929.
Fax: (01)679 3980. •
265