13 / 200
JUNE, 1936]
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society ol Ireland
9
Henry had also served on the Council. We
have also to deplore the loss of Mr. Raymond
French, who for many years acted as one of
our Scrutineers. Mr. H. F. Leachman might
well be described as the " grand old man "
of our profession, having been admitted so
far back as the year 1859, and when he
retired in 1927 had been in practice for the
long period of 68 years. Mr. Reginald Dix
has recently passed away; he was a regular
and honoured attendant at our general
meetings.
To the relatives of all those who have
passed away during the last half-year we
offer our sincere sympathy.
During the past few months 26 Solicitors
have
joined our Society, and while we
welcome
this
addition,
I would
again
earnestly repeat the plea so often made by
my predecessors
in
office :
that every
practising Solicitor should become a member
of our Society.
In my opinion they owe it
as a duty to do so, and thereby strengthen
the hands of the Council which is constantly
engaged in safeguarding and watching over
the interest of the profession as a whole.
Membership of our Society confers many
benefits, and to those who have held aloof
I would say in all earnestness :
does not
loyalty to your profession demand that you
should co-operate with your professional
brethren ? There must be, roughly speaking,
400 practising Solicitors who have not so
far joined the Society, and I earnestly appeal
to them to do so. To put forward only one
aspect of the case :
is it reasonable that our
Society should be constantly engaged
in
protecting the interests of those who, while
deriving the benefits which accrue, do not
join
the Society.
I appeal specially
to
country practitioners, first, because they as a
body are well represented on the Council;
and secondly, the extended jurisdiction con–
ferred by Circuit and District Courts calls
for, I may say, unceasing watchfulness on
many
subjects
affecting
the
country
practitioner. May I in this connection take
the opportunity of saying that the utmost
harmony and co-operation exists amongst
the members of our Council, and as a country
practitioner pay a well-deserved tribute to
the valuable contribution which the Dublin
practitioners who are members of the Council
make to the work of that body. This, no
doubt, is only what one would expect, but
I
think, for
the
information of country
members,
it
should be
recognised
and
gratefully acknowledged.
During the past months the Courts of Justice
Bill has been receiving the careful con–
sideration of our Council. It has passed the
Committee stage, and we can now
look
forward to its coming into force with what
we believe will be resultant benefit to both
the public and our profession. The amend–
ments and suggestions offered by your
Council have been favourably received, and
we believe that they will tend to changes for
the better in many directions.
In these days when personal injuries cases
resulting from motor accidents occupy so
much of the time of our Courts, I may refer
to a matter of some importance to our pro–
fession in regard to obtaining information
from doctors attached to public hospitals as
to
the nature
and
extent
of
injuries
sustained by a person who is a patient there,
without the consent of the injured person.
The Medical Council have laid down and,
I
think, quite rightly as a matter of
etiquette, that a doctor should not without
the patient's consent disclose any informa–
tion, and that there should be established
complete
confidence
between
one who
receives and one who renders the service.
The provision of absolutely essential law
books necessitated by changes in law and
practice still continues to engage the earnest
attention of
the Council, and a Special
Committee
is dealing with
the question.
It was hoped
that the various interests
affected the Government,
the Bar and
Universities would
co-operate with
the
Solicitors, but it is regrettable to find that
there does not appear any prospect of this
hope being realised. To write and publish
even one of the many necessary books is an
expensive undertaking,
and we
are at
present considering and
taking steps
to
ascertain what financial support may be
expected from our own profession, which,
apart from private enterprise, seems likely to
be left to bear the burden alone.
I am,
however, glad to say that I understand some
public-spirited members of the Bar are either
actually at work or contemplate the high