GAZETTE
R
Pilot Project - Civil Legal Aid
Dear Editor,
The Society's response to the Minister's
proposals in relation to private
practitioner Civil Legal Aid has
prompted me to offer some comments
which arise out of my experience as a
family lawyer.
Apart from the Law Society report on
Civil Legal Aid in November 1991, the
formation of the Family Law Committee
and a recent address from the President, I
would not have been aware of any great
interest by the Society or the profession
as a whole in the absence of a proper
Civil Legal Aid structure. Organisations
such as FLAC and AIM Group were
more vocal in highlighting the
inadequacies and suggesting reforms in
the provision of Legal Aid and the whole
area of family law. The resignation of
Niall Fennelly
and other members of the
Legal Aid Board in January, 1990 failed
to evoke any notable response from the
Society. The obvious injustices suffered
by citizens unable to gain access to Civil
Legal Aid has produced only a handful
| of practitioners interested enough and
willing to take the risks inherent in
running test cases (with some recent
notable successes).
We now have, for the first time since the
recommendations in the Pringle report of
1977, concrete proposals for private
practitioner legal aid. The fee per case is
glaringly inadequate. There are other
defects in the proposals which should be
thought through such as the fact that
payment of a fee for court work may
create an over-emphasis on this remedy.
Í It is difficult to understand why there is
| no provision for a fee for advice,
negotiation and agreement between the
spouses which is without a doubt the
best way to deal with family disputes.
Despite the inadequacies it is my view
that the proposals should be accepted for
the limited period and as a pilot project.
Those who decide to go on the panel
will be unlikely to do so for financial
reasons but hopefully they will have an
interest and an expertise in family law
work and in improving the level of
service to the public in these cases. I
believe that there is a need in the
profession to re-focus on an non-
adversarial approach, to improve our
knowledge of recent legislation and case
law, to encourage better use of
mediation services and to acquaint
ourselves with the excellent Family
Lawyers Code of Conduct. If private
practitioners can demonstrate the value
S and efficiency of the service which they
j
offer and its cost effectiveness, they will
I be in a stronger position to make a case
! at the end of the pilot project for
! adequate remuneration and an expansion
of the Civil Legal Aid private
practitioner scheme.
Yours etc
Phil Armstrong
Solicitor.
Editor
's
Note:
The then President of the Law Society,
Ernest Margetson, was one of the
members of the Legal Aid Board who
i resigned in January, 1990 in protest at the
inadequacy of the Scheme of Civil Legal
| Aid and Advice. Since then, the Society
has made repeated public calls for the
| introduction of a comprehensive scheme.
BC
i
; Life Proceeds not paid to Solicitor
I Dear Editor,
j
May I refer to the Practice Notes in the
June, 1993 edition? There is a section
headed Life Policy Proceeds not paid to
Solicitors.
|
Understandably the directive specified that
a solicitor should ensure that life assurance
proceeds cheques drawn in favour of the
personal representative or beneficiary (as
the case may be) should be sent directly to
him. That he should not give an undertak-
j
ing unless he has had sight of the claim
j
form and is certain that the cheque for the
life assurance proceeds will be "sent to
| him."
May I suggest the following, if possible,
j
and appropriate, that the solicitor should
endeavour to copperfasten the situation by
requesting the executor/beneficiary to
| authorise the company to make the cheque
directly payable to her/his firm so the
he/she has total control of the situation?
I
Yours etc.,
|
Diarmuid Teevan,
Solicitor.
Doyle Court Reporters
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