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professions and other employments. It was pointed out
that the capacity of the transportable goods industries
to compete with imports depended not alone on their
own internal efficiency but also on the prices they had
to pay for materials and the services they bought in
Ireland and examples of these services given were legal,
auctioneering and architectural services, insurance and
financial facilities, building, electricity, gas and water.
It had been suggested in the N.I.E.G. report that there
should be procedures for referring restrictive practices
between persons and firms in the services shelter of the
economy to the Fair Trades Commission in order to
devise means of increasing competition in these activi-
ties. The Council naturally paid serious attention to
these statements and to later official announcements
that the restrictive trade practices legislation would be
amended and extended to bring professional services
within the scope of the Fair Trades Commission. This
had already been done by the Monopolies Commission
in England which held an inquiry into the solicitors
and other professions. The Council has made a
survey of earnings in a representative sample of solici-
tors' offices and the results have been analysed by the
Society's accountants. Steps have also been taken to
institute a time costing exercise in accordance with a
scheme drawn up with the assistance of the Society's
accountants and in which a number of offices will be
invited to participate. It is hoped that there will be a
wide response to this request because in order to present
the Society's case properly the Council must be armed
with adequate statistical and other information. The
areas of investigation envisaged are the fee structure of
the profession, the commission scale fee, cross subsidis-
ation and so-called restrictive practices. These practices
include the existing prohibitions against advertising,
supplanting, undercutting and Unfair attraction of
business by advertising or otherwise. If experience in
England is any guide it will be suggested that there
should be price competition between individual solici-
tors and offices and that solicitors should be free to
advertise their services and compete in the same way as
commercial and industrial concerns.
Terms of Reference of Fair Trade Commission
The terms of reference of the Commission are not yet
known as the legislation has not yet been published in
Bill form but officials of the Department have met
representatives of the Society on several occasions at
which, while accepting that legislation will be introduced,
the Council have put forward suggestions as to the form
which it should take. The Council are particularly
concerned that whatever form the legislation takes it
should not be accepted as a foregone conclusion that
price competition, advertising, undercutting and similar
practices are justified. The Council have no objection
whatever to such an inquiry and indeed welcome it
because they feel confident that an impartial investi-
gation will show that the public interest would not be
served by the commercialisation of the profession. This
is not said from any affection of superiority of the
professions over commerce but merely to indicate that
they are different and I do not intend here to enter
into the arguments on either side of the case. I am
concerned, however, to see that the terms of reference
of the commission will treat this matter as at least an
open question.
Reverting again to the time cost exercise I would like
to appeal to offices which have any interest in this mat-
ter to write in to the Secretary of the Society who will
supply them with a memorandum prepared by the
accountants which I think would repay careful perusal.
Participation in an exercise of this kind by a large
number of offices would be advantageous not alone to
the Society which deals with the matter in the interests
of the profession as a whole but to the individual offices
because it has been found that the adoption of time
costing methods and knowing what it costs to provide
different kinds of professional services has resulted in
increased profitability and efficiency where such methods
are used. In the strenuous years ahead the profession
must ever strive to increase its efficiency by amalga-
mation, equipment and by the adoption of progressive
methods of business and I feel certain that time costing
is a high priority.
Legal remuneration—Central Costs Committee
Discussions have continued between the Council and
the Minister for Justice on the subject of a single com-
mittee to regulate solicitors' remuneration. As mem-
bers are aware five different committees are concerned
with this matter, the most important being the statutory
body under the Solicitors' Remuneration Act, 1881,
which deals with non-contentious business geutu-ally.
There is a separate committee for each Court and lor
the Land Registry. The Council suggested as far back
as 1962 that a general costs committee should be
appointed which without interfering in any way with
the method or form of charges fixed by particular rules
committees would be empowered to authorise general
increases in all solicitors' costs by way of a percentage
addition to be added to existing charges. In a subsequent
discussion with the predecessor of the present Minister
in 1968 the committee again put forward this proposal
and suggested that there should be a single costs com-
mittee with public representation and the assistance of
chartered accountants which would make orders dealing
with solicitors' remuneration generally and would be
responsible to the Oireachtas. The Council were opposed
to a ministerial or executive veto on decisions of such
a committee as being contrary to the accepted principle
of professional independence.
The Minister for Justice met representatives of the
Rules Committees early in August 1970 and following
that meeting a circular was sent out to members on
September 10th last. Since then there have been two
meetings between the Minister personally, the first with
representatives of the Society, the Bar and represen-
tatives of the Rules Committees and the second with
representatives of the Society alone. I do not want to
go into any detail about these discussions but we are
hopeful that the Minister will accede to the proposals
put forward to him on behalf of the Society which I
am convinced would be in the public interest. Over a
large area of professional practice solicitors have no
exclusive rights and in these areas they are in the same
posiiton as architects, accountants and medical practi-
tioners with this difference that solicitors' charges are
controlled, while those of other professions are fixed by
the professional bodies themselves. It is accepted that
there is a case for supervision of charges in Court
proceedings for party and party costs which are paid
by parties other than clients and for non-contentious
work where there is exclusivity but for non-contentious
work where there is no exclusive right it is difficult to
see the logic or argument for external regulation. In
fact in Scotland the Law Society prescribes the scale of
non-contentious costs which is regarded with respect
but not necessarily as the final authority by the Courts.
External Control
Nevertheless the Council has accepted the principle
of external control by a broad based committee with
representation as I have said from the judiciary, the
professions, the public and representatives of the pro-
3$