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so far as we have catered for specialisation, we have
done so in an entirely pragmatic fashion by the growth
of large partnerships in city areas wherein some of the
partners choose their own speciality in a given aspect
of the law. In many instances this has developed be-
cause it has been deemed an economic necessity in
order to meet the problem of ever-increasing overheads
and to provide greater efficiency in office management.
The desire to retain clients whose interests embrace a
wide range of special problems is, no doubt, also an
affective factor.
It would, however, be an unhappy development if a
great and learned professor were to acquire the raiment
and trappings of a business measuring worth by receipts,
rather than by its contribution to the law as one of
the institutions of our free society as a social force and
as an instrument of social justice for all.
Need for Specialisation
We have no system of registration or formal certifi-
cation of legal specialists comparable to medicine. With
us specialisation is a self-imposed limitation without
any public proclamation. One of the main objections
is, of course, concern with the ethics of solicitation.
There is also the danger of knowing more and more
about less and less. We must strive against getting lost
in the wilderness of our own field of vision and losing
the art of communication.
To whatever degree, and in whatever way specialisa-
tion is likely to develop, whether by gradual evolution
or formal adoption, we cannot ignore the fact that our
education and training calls for a complete overhaul if
we are to effectively meet future needs.
As now constituted, a curriculum model devised for
an era in which every lawyer was in fact a generalist,
private in nature, oriented towards litigation and fed
exclusively on a diet of "lawyers law" is, in my view
inadequate to meet the demands of new and intricate
law practice.
It is a curious paradox that whilst the law and
lawyers have of recent years been the target of much
criticism, society is turning more and more to the law
to solve its most serious social problems.
Continuous Education and Training necessary
The recent Ormrod Report on legal education in
the United Kingdom commenting upon the work of
the legal profession remarks with insight "the most
striking feature of the legal profession is the enormous
width of its spectrum, both in function and subject
matter, combined with the relatively narrow limits
within which many individual practitioners actually
operate".
As to training, the Report makes this observation—
"The range of the subject-matter of the law is so great
that no system of education and training before quali-
fication could possibly cover the whole of it, except in
an utterly superficial and useless manner. The process
of acquiring professional knowledge and skills is con-
tinuous throughout the lawyer's working life."
The problem of continuing education and training
throughout the practitioner's career is one which I fear
will overtax our present resources. At the moment, our
only available resource is manpower supplied by the
voluntary efforts of busy practitioners. This I believe
can never produce satisfactory results.
Before we can hope to suggest some means of
attempting to reach a solution to this problem a great
deal of research is required. Although we in this country
have done nothing in this direction, and, indeed, are not
presently organised to do it, we can gain some cold
comfort from the fact that, apart from the American
Bar Foundation, an independent legal research organi-
sation which conducts research at the request of the
American Bar Association, it would appear that little
or nothing has been done elsewhere.
There is a further consideration which I think we
should not overlook. Practising lawyers are, after all,
only a component element in a production line. The
product is the administration of Justice produced
through an institutionalised organic structure embrac-
ing the Legislature, the Courts and Administrative
Agencies, using manpower composed of legislators,
Judges, bureaucrats, appointed officials and practising
lawyers.
I have never understood why the concept of con-
tinuing education and training should be confined to
practising lawyers. I see no reason why civil servants
who participate in the design and administration of the
law and Judges who interpret and adjudicate upon it
should be regarded as immune from the need for up-
dating their knowledge and skills. To find out what we
ought to be doing and to make the best use of our
available resources we need research in order to identify
problem areas, assess their incidence and quantification,
run pilot schemes and plan future action.
Institute of Professional Legal Studies necessary
The Ormrod Report suggests the setting-up of an
Institute of Professional Legal Studies to co-ordinate,
organise and promote projects in all fields of continuing
training for the legal profession. I believe that some
such body is urgently needed here, and
I
would extend
its activities to embrace law reform and the whole
spectrum of the legal system.
I am addressing these remarks to you today as new-
comers to the profession because I feel that it is impor-
tant that you should be fully alerted to the problems
facing the profession, and that you should realise the
need for active participation in the work of your
local Bar Associations and of the Society. We need
your concern and your help. You have youth and
energy. You have a unique opportunity to enhance the
image and prestige of the profession as a positive force
for good in the community.
You must bear in mind that you are a representative
not a delegate. You may be retained by an individual
client to serve his interests, but you have a prior retainer
to promote and secure the administration of Justice,
the end of which is the preservation of the dignity of
the individual in a free society. The Harvard School of
Law formula which is used upon the conferring of the
degree in Law includes the words : "ready to aid in the
shaping and application of those wise restraints that
make men free". Today,
I
commend those words to you.
The following new Solicitors were then presented with
Certificates :
Owen M. Binchy, B.C.L., N.U.I., Knights Lodge,
Charleville, Co. Cork; Bryan C. Brophy, The Orchard,
Cross Avenue, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; Deirdre Mary
Casey, B.C.L., Cusack Road, Ennis, Co. Clare; William
Harrison Clarke, B.C.L., N.U
.I.
, Rockfield House,
Cloghan, Birr, Co. Offaly; John J. Corcoran, 11 Lord
Edward St., Ballina, Co. Mayo; Michael M. T.
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