The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

OCTOBER 1994

September 1993 joint Law

Society/Bar Council submission to

Government on the Courts Service.

We are not, however, alone. Although

the UK, USA and Canada clearly

spend, in relative terms, far more than

we do on court facilities, personnel

and management, it is some

consolation to learn that those

jurisdictions still have, in varying

ways, major delay problems to

contend with. Personally, what was

most encouraging and thought-

provoking was the very open and

frank way senior members of the

American and Canadian judiciaries

addressed these issues. They did not

appear to feel any threat to their

independence in the exercise of their

judicial functions when debating

publicly case management and delay

issues with lay court administrators,

litigation lawyers and fellow judges. I

believe a similar public debate on

these issues could beneficially take

place here.

Unemployment Among New

Entrants

This problem appears to be even more

acute in the USA and Canada than in

Ireland, but it is nonetheless of

growing concern here. The most

realistic panacea being currently

considered in North America is what

we have also being considering here -

how best should the breadth of

knowledge and skills of the young

lawyer be extended to make him or

her more attractive in the wider

employment market as well as more

attractive in competing and equipped

for the diminishing number of

! openings in the private practice area.

What about lawyers as business

executives and managers, as civil

servants, as computer specialists, as

educators, as people whose

knowledge and training can

beneficially be applied anywhere. My

message of optimism to young

solicitors is - keep expanding your

range of knowledge and skills, do not

close your mind to career

opportunities outside private practice

or outside law entirely, and be

justifiably confident in the value of

your training as a solicitor, wherever

you are and whatever you might

choose to do.

, Maintenance of Standards and

Image of the Profession

Despite our many concerns in this

context, we are better off than our

USA counterparts. In discussing the

issue with US judges I get the sense

that what they like about the Anglo-

Irish justice system is (topically) that

OJ Simpson

would have been seen to

i get a fair trial here whereas,

irrespective of its outcome, he will not

be perceived to have got a fair trial in

California. The OJ Simpson pre-trial

publicity and histrionics may be the

consequence of the essentially

unrestricted First Amendment right to

free press but, in a more general way,

there seems to be a serious concern

within the leadership of the ABA

about the increasing 'win-at-all-costs'

approach of US lawyers, both criminal

and civil. The vast majority of Irish

lawyers still see very clearly the

I inherent value of their responsibility

not to mislead deliberately a court, a

jury, or a colleague, even if a

perceived advantage might be gained

by doing so. I believe it would be a

loss of inestimable value if the

economic pressures brought about by

the growth of our profession ever gave

I rise to a decrease in our high

I standards in that regard.

Equally in terms of the public image,

I we may be better off than our US

colleagues, but is that any comfort if

Sean Citizen

still feels negatively

towards us? I reiterate the perhaps

self-serving observation that Irish

' clients do get a good service from

' their own solicitor. The recently

I published poll conducted by the Small

Firms Association showed 90% of

those polled as being either "satisfied"

or "very satisfied" with the service

they received from their own solicitor.

What members of the public tend to

be negative about are lawyers in

general, for a variety of reasons, some

objectively valid and some based on

perceptions not objectively valid.

! Clearly all incidents of bad publicity

involving an individual solicitor can

become generalised in the public

perception. Our only constant

response must be that the vast

majority of solicitors are satisfying

the vast majority of clients, day-in-

day-out. The fact that good news does

not tend to make headlines does not

lessen that reality.

Michael V. O'Mahony

International Consortium on

Access to Law

Terms of Reference for a Protocol of

Co-operation ("Protocol")

The International Consortium on

Access to Law, hereinafter (ICAL), is

founded on the common interest of its

members to ensure that their legal and

judicial systems are efficient,

accessible and cost-effective. The

ICAL will advance these objectives by

sharing knowledge about

improvements to the judicial system

and the delivery of legal services. The

ICAL recognises that lawyers and the

legal profession have a key role in

achieving these objectives. This

Protocol provides the framework for

future cooperation on these vital

issues.

1. Mandate:

A. The signatories will identify

issues, coordinate efforts and

exchange information on ideas,

initiatives, programmes, and

proposals with the view to

achieving the following goals:

i. accessible, comprehensible and

efficient systems of justice;

ii. efficient and cost effective

modes of provision of legal

services, including the

international standardisation of

legal rules and procedures for

commonplace legal

transactions.

The types of issues and mechanisms

which will be addressed include:

(a) Improving accessibility and

efficiency of the justice

system:

• developing and promoting

cost-effective delivery of

legal services

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