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appropriate scale fee which would be charged to the
borrower. The Council adopted a report from a com-
mittee stating that the commission scale fee is charge-
able. There would be no objection to a reduction of the
charge in favour of the borrower provided that there is
no antecedent agreement or arrangement to this effect.
SOLICITORS' REMUNERATION-
APPLICATIONS FOR INCREASE
The cost of living index figure has risen by 42 per cent
since the date of the last order fixing solicitors' costs for
proceedings in the Superior Courts and the District
Court. An application has been made to the two rules
committees for an increase of this amount.
In the case of the Circuit Court the cost of living
figure has risen by 62 per cent since the date of the last
increase as the Minister for Justice refused to concur
in rules submitted by the Circuit Court Rules Com-
mittee increasing solicitors' remuneration on the occa-
sion of the twelfth round. An application has now been
made to the rules committee for not less than 42 per cent.
An application has been made to the Land Registra-
tion Rules Committee for an increase of 42 per cent on
the charges other than commission scale fees) and also
for an amendment of the definition of value (now RV
x 50) to the value as fixed for stamp duty.
An application has been made to the Statutory Body
under the Solicitors' Remuneration Act, 1881, for an
increase on the item charges under Schedule 2.
No applications have been made in respect of com-
mission scale fees or discretionary charges.
TIME COSTING
With the assistance of the Society's accountants, Messrs
Cooper Brothers, a detailed memorandum describing a
time costing system suitable for adoption in solicitors'
offices has been prepared. The object of any time costing
system is to enable the practitioner to know what it
costs him to perform various types of professional work.
It does not necessarily regulate the amount of the fee
to be charged because obviously in a general practice
some work is performed at or below cost and compen-
sation is obtained from other types of business on the
cross-subsidisation principle. It is, however, becoming
obvious that solicitors must be able to ascertain with a
fair degree of precision the relative costs of different
types of work. The practice has been widely adopted
by accountants and while not so easily applicable to a
solicitor's practice it is still a valuable aid to efficiency.
It has been found that systems of this kind, where
adopted, resulted in greater profitability and efficiency.
Any offices interested in receiving copies of the memor-
andum should write to the Secretary. It is proposed to
hold a meeting or luncheon party limited to a fairly
small number of participants at which a representative
from the Society's accountants will attend to explain
the system and discuss it generally with those interested.
This exercise is also important from the point of view of
the inquiry which will be held by the Fair Trades
Commission under proposed amending legislation into
solicitors' remuneration and practices. A survey of solici-
tors' incomes has already been made and this must be
supplemented by information as to the relative cost and
profit from different types of work. The exercise will be
valuable to the Council in obtaining this information
and therefore a benefit to the profession as a whole.
Ordinary General Meeting, Galway
A general meeting of the Society was held at the Great
Southern Hotel, Galway, on Saturday, 8th May 1971.
The President, Mr. Brendan A.. McGrath, took the
chair.
The notice convening the meeting and the minutes of
the ordinary general meeting held on 19th November
1970 were by permission of the meeting taken as read.
Mr. William B. Gavin, the President of the Galway
Bar Association, addressed the meeting and welcomed
the Society to Galway on behalf of the Association.
Alderman Ryan, Deputy Mayor of Galway, welcomed
the Society on behalf of the Galway Corporation.
On the proposal of Miss Carmel Killeen, seconded
by Mr. William B. Gavin, the following 'members of the
Society were appointed as scrutineers for the ballot for
the election of the Council for the year 1971-72: Thomas
Jackson, Alexander J. McDonald, Brendan P. McCor-
mack, Roderick J. Tierney, Laurence J. Branigan.
Welcome to Guests
The President, addresing the meeting, said:
Mr. Mayor, Mr. Gavin, ladies and gentlemen, I
am very glad to reply on behalf of our members to the
welcome extended to us by you, Mr. Mayor, on
behalf of the Corporation and Mr. Gavin on behalf of
the Galway Bar Association. We are very glad to be here
and to have such a representative attendance of our
members from many parts of the country. This is our
second visit to Galway for a weekend meeting of the
Society having made almost the entire circuit of the
country during previous years. I think you will all agree
with me that it is of the greatest value to members to
meet on occasions such as this when we have the oppor-
tunity not alone of discussing the business of the Society
but of meeting colleagues from different parts of the
country. The Society commenced this venture I think
in 1958 and it has been repeated at two-yearly intervals.
We are also pleased to have with us representatives from
the Law Society in England, Mr. Carter, the vice-
president, and Mr. Harold Horsfall Turner, the secre-
tary general, and Mr. John Pinkerton, the president of
the Incorporated Law Society of Northern Ireland, and
Mr. O'Neill, the assistant secretary, with their wives.
We are sorry that Mr. Morley, the president of the Law
Society in England, who accepted our invitation, was
prevented at the last moment from coming because of
an illness which I am glad to say is not serious. We also
regret the absence of our colleagues from Scotland who
had hope»'' to send a representative notwithstanding the
fact that they are holding a conference this weekend.
However, Mr. Murray-Wilkie, an old friend, who was to
have come was prevented by business commitments at
the last moment.
During the past six months the Society has been
engaged in a number of important activities to which
I shall refer. Some of these represent work in progress
and only an interim report can be made. In particular
the Society's project in connection with King's Hospital
is a long-term project and one which will engage the
attention of the Council for some considerable time.
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