The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

GEM N

JUNE 1993

core principles and core values and

we should not cow-tow to public

perception."

Barry Galvin said that he was

appalled that some members of the

profession felt that they could not

approach the Law Society when they

were in difficulty. "To my certain

knowledge that perception is wrong,"

he stated, "help is available and

many in the past who were in

difficulty have been helped and have

gone on to become good solicitors."

Michael Staines,

Law Society

Council Member, said the profession

was an honourable one and that its

members should not be fighting

amongst themselves. "As a

profession, big and small firms,

Cork or Dublin, we should fight for

what is ours, fight to maintain our

work and then do that work as well

as possible." He said it amazed him

that, despite overcrowding in the

profession, solicitors continued to

give away work to accountants, tax

consultants and to brief barristers on

District Court work.

The final panellist,

Hugh O'Neill,

the DSBA, proposed the

establishment of an agency

independent of the Law Society. Its

functions would be to provide a

confidential advisory service to

practitioners. It should also provide

a 'matchmaking' service to link

compatible practices which wanted to

merge or to share facilities and it

could provide a locum service for

sickness and holidays.

Concern about PR

Speakers from the floor expressed

the view that the Council of the

Society was losing touch with the

profession. One speaker said the

question was not whether the sole

practitioner had a future but rather,

did the Society have a future without

the sole practitioner?

Why should sole practitioners

marginalise themselves, asked

another speaker. Unlike the UK,

where only a small segment of the

profession comprised sole

practitioners, 57% of the members

of the profession in Ireland were sole

practitioners, and, therefore, it was

the lafge firms which should form a

separate association.

A number of contributors made the

point that sole practitioners were

trying to provide low cost, accessible,

quality legal advice. One area that

required positive action was the

whole matter of public relations.

There was also a need for much

more information about the work of

the Council and the Society in the

form of regular bulletins about the

activities going on in the Law

Society.

Another speaker urged the Society to

engage in more positive public

relations such as the 'Make A Will

Week'. The Society should emphasise

the appalling, archiac courts system

that solicitors have to work in, and

the Society should be in the

vanguard of seeking law reform and

of explaining the implications of new

legislation to the public.

The view of another contributor was

that the Society was not getting its

PR right. Instead of negative or

defensive PR, it should engage in

positive public relations. The Society

was also not doing enough to

increase the amount of work

available to solicitors. For example,

he had heard very little demand from

the Law Society for the introduction

of widespread civil legal aid.

The Director General of the Law

Society,

Noel Ryan,

said he felt that

there was a great deal of

misunderstanding of the Society's

PR policy. Merely standing up and

shouting loud and long was not the

way of getting one's point across.

The Society, and solicitors

themselves, were in a position of

trust vis-a-vis the public and it was

important to show that such trust

was regarded as sacred. The Society

was making a conscious effort to be

more transparent in its dealings with

the public and the press.

(See also

page 131.)

Other speakers drew attention to the

amount of time which Council

Members devote to working for the

interests of the profession through

their involvement in the Society

and to the need for the involvement

of both large firms and smaller

firms.

One speaker was critical of the

banks who advanced substantial

sums to sole practitioners to enable

them to start up in practice but then

exerted pressure when income

dropped during time of recession.

Presidents and Secretaries of the Bar

Associations should work out a co-

ordinated plan of action with the

Law Society in order to lobby TDs

on the problems causing concern to

the profession, suggested another

practitioner. He also contrasted the

proposed restriction in the Solicitors

Bill on solicitors setting up on their

own for three years after admission

with the provision in the same

legislation which would give

unqualified people power to do

probate and conveyancing.

Concern was also expressed about

the lengthy waiting list for the

Society's Advisory Service and there

was support for the idea of a

training course for prospective sole

practitioners.

No Hidden Agenda - President

The President of the Society,

Raymond Monahan,

assured the

meeting that the Society was not

trying to undermine sole

practitioners; there was no "hidden

agenda". He said that he and the

Council were resolutely tackling the

problems facing the profession,

particularly through two special

committees he had set up on the

Compensation Fund and Education

Policy respectively.

Overcrowding was the main problem

facing the profession and it was one

that would have to be dealt with, he

stated, but the Society was totally

circumscribed by legislation. The

Society was seeking change via the

Solicitors Bill, while at the same

time opposing sections in the Bill

that would be detrimental for the

profession. Raymond Monahan said

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