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GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1987
many and varied forms o f prop-
erty but h e i s concerned with
administering th e organisations
that own these properties as a
director o r manager a t various
levels.
This must raise the question
whether the business lawyer i s
able to continue in the traditional
profession o f law in competition
with large institutions whose
business i s that o f property,
transfer o f property, mortgages,
pensions, investment, broking of
various kinds, banking, insurance
or whatever. These businesses are
highly profitable and an individual
who chooses to be a lawyer ex-
pects to be paid the same as those
employed by such institutions and
if he cannot do so then he leaves
the profession of law as such and
joins the outside business world.
The question is — does he cease
to be a professional in the true
sense of the word? Has his func-
tion changed?
Money
This heading is used rather than
'remuneration' or 'compensation'
because money in its strict sense
is purely a lubricant (although sadly
it has come to be regarded as a
commodity in its own right) and is
no more than a measure o f pro-
ductivity. Productivity is the result
of effective work; i.e. activity that
creates a product that has a market
and hence has worth. Digging a
hole in the ground and putting the
soil back i s hard work but wor-
thless and hence cannot be class-
ed a s production. Extracting
minerals or growing food surplus to
requirements lacks value. Lack of
effective work equals poor pro-
ductivity equals poverty. True pro-
ductivity creates wealth. Without
wealth
people
cannot be looked
after and will ultimately die in the
streets as beggars. The history of
civilisations i s littered with ex-
amples. The process is not always
slow.
Increasingly, a s business has
become more complex, wealth has
accumulated in the hands o f in-
corporated bodies, controlled more
and more by a diversity of share-
holders, and hence the business
lawyer has been remunerated by a
slice of that wealth. To do so, he
has had to specialise, because of
the need of that wealth-creating
body to be advised on and have its
property protected b y someone
knowledgeable in the complexity of
the laws by which its business is
governed. The gulf between the
amount of money received by the
business lawyer and the lawyer
engaged in general practice is vast.
Yet the need for the general prac-
titioner is greater than ever. Private
individuals wish to be advised upon
their rights and to have them re-
presented to a court, to a tribunal
or to another private individual. The
dedication and responsibility o f
lawyers in this field is as great or
greater than those engaged in busi-
ness law. The sense of personal in-
justice in the mind of an individual
is not easily erased and the preven-
tion o f i t and consequently the
future of the individual and his abili-
ty to cope with life is in the hands
of his lawyer. The adrenalin flows
with the same, if not greater force.
The money received by the ad-
vocate in general practice is usual-
ly inadequate. The private client
can frequently not afford to pay an
adequate fee, and i f he can does
not regard i t a s justified. The
system of taxation of costs active-
ly encourages that.
J . & E. DAVY
STOCKBROKERS
Personal
Investment
Division
For
SPECIALISED INVESTMENT ADVICE
UNIT LINKED INVESTMENTS
GUARANTEED BONDS
60/ 3 DAWSO N STREET,
DUBLI
N 2 .
Phone
275