The Gazette 1993

JAZETTE

N W

APRIL 1993

SYS Spring Conference

The Spring Conference of the

Society of Young Solicitors was held

in the magnificent Adare Manor on

the weekend of 5 - 7 March, 1993.

Delegates from all over the country

gathered in the hotel's Tack Room

on Friday evening for drinks and a

disco which went on until the early

hours.

The Conference began with a panel

discussion on "The increasing

importance of the Compensation

and Registrar's Committees of the

Law Society", which was chaired by

Noel Ryan,

Director General of the

Law Society.

Ward McEllin,

Chairman of the Law

Society's Compensation Fund

Committee, advised the conference

delegates of the current pressures on

the Fund is as a result of the

increasing number of claims. He said

he was hopeful that the ongoing

negotiations on the Solicitors Bill

would firstly, redress the balance in

favour of the profession following

the Supreme Court decision in the

TSB case; secondly, impose a

criminal sanction subjecting

improper conduct on the part of

solicitors to the criminal code; and

thirdly, place a limit on the level of

any one claim that could be made

on the Compensation Fund.

He also stressed the need for quicker

reporting by the profession to the

Law Society of improper conduct by

a practitioner so that a substantial

claim on the fund could be reduced

or avoided altogether. The

conference was told that the Law

Society intended to be ruthless in its

pursuit of improper conduct and in

ensuring compliance with the

solicitors account regulations. He

advised practitioners who found

themselves in difficulty to use the

Practice Advisory Service which was

established to assist practitioners

with their affairs.

Gerard Griffin,

former Chairman of

the Registrar's Committee, stated the

Committee could make two findings,

either no complaint or that the

complaint required to be referred to

the Disciplinary Committee of the

High Court. The Conference was

told that during the period August

1991 to August 1992 over 1,500

complaints were received by the

Registrar's Committee, 33 of which

were subsequently dealt with by the

Disciplinary Committee. The vast

majority of complaints were cleared

by the Law Society's secretariat. It

was found that an early response by

a solicitor to a dissatisfied client

usually resolved the matter. He urged

members to respond instantly to the

Law Society when notified of a

complaint so that the matter did not

escalate.

Medical Negligence

The second topic, "Recent fiends in

Medical Negligence", was a lively

and interesting debate on this

increasingly important area.

John

Dillon-Leetch,

Dillon-Leetch & Sons,

gave a comprehensive view of the

obstacles to be met by practitioners

dealing in this area and stressed the

need to obtain expert medical

evidence before issuing proceedings

on behalf of a client. He called on

the medical profession to be more

forthcoming with information and

documentation and not to proffer

explanations from the witness box.

Dr.

John Murphy,

paediatrician in

Holies Street Hospital and Editor of

the Irish Medical Journal, gave an

entertaining and informative

response. He stressed the need to

avoid unsubstantiated claims against

the medical professional as they have

the effect of jeopardising proper

medical care. He referred to a recent

US case, where a doctor was

successfully sued for not describing

the benefits of a particular form of

treatment! Dr. Murphy criticised the

delays inherent in the legal system

and the adverse effect of a claim

hanging over a member of the

medical profession for a protracted

period. However, he agreed that

medical records should be made

more easily available and legible at

that. Finally, he referred to the

"standard of care" issue and

suggested that the Irish courts

should be aware of the differing

standards of health care available in

the different jurisdictions and that

foreign experts' evidence should be

viewed accordingly.

Finally,

Nicholas Kearns

SC presented

a comprehensive and valuable paper

to the conference (a copy of which is

available from Delphine Kelly, c/o A

& L Goodbody). He referred to key

recent cases and their impact on the

law of medical negligence with

particular emphasis on the doctrine of

res ipsa loquilor

and its interpretation.

He said that great caution should be

exercised before deciding to institute a

medical negligence suit as the costs are

substantial if the case is withdrawn at

a late stage. Given the development of

the law in this area he suggested that

in many instances a medical

negligence suit has to be regarded as

something of a poisoned chalice.

The social activities were, as ever,

highly enjoyable. The SYS would like

to thank all the speakers and our

sponsors - Investment Bank of

Ireland, Solicitors' Financial

Services, Norwell, Butterworths

(Ireland) Limited, Sweet & Maxwell,

Dooley & Co., Baileys, Oaktree

Press, The Lawyer, Doyle Court

Reporters, The Round Hall Press

and Rochford Brady - who made

the weekend possible. Thanks are

also due to the sub-committee

(Gavin Buckley, Walter Beatty and

Paul White)

who organised the

event.

•

Gavin Buckley,

Public Relations Officer,

Society of Young Solicitors

102