The Gazette 1984

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INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND
GAZETTE
Vol. 78 No. 5
I n t h i s i s s u e . . . C o m m e n t . . .
Comment 123
The Unconstitutionality of the County Rate
on land 137
Professional Information 146
Executive Editor: Mary Buckley
Editorial Board: William Earley, Chairman
John F. Buckley
Gary Byrne
Charles R. M. Meredith
Michael V. O'Mahony
Maxwell Sweeney
Advertising: Liam O hOisin, Telephone 305236
Printing: Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford
The views expressed in this publication, save where
other-wise indicated, are the views of the contributors
and not necessarily the views of the Council of the
Society.
The appearance of an advertisement in this publication
does not necessarily indicate approval by the Society for
the product or service advertised.
Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.
THE announcement by the President of the Society at
the recent Annual General Meeting of the Mayo Bar
Association that he was in the process of establishing a
panel of solicitors who would undertake negligence
actions against colleagues practising outside their own
immediate areas is timely.
As the President said in the same speech, there is no
doubt that solicitors as a profession are under siege by the
media and the consumer interest in Irish society. One
criticism often levelled against solicitors (and other
professions) is that it is difficult to get one professional to
become involved in an action for alleged negligence
against a colleague.
The "dog doesn't eat dog" attitude while perfectly
understandable, may, at times be professionally unsafe; it
includes, however, acts of generosity such as not charging
a colleague full fees in respect of his own personal transac-
tions as well as refusing to take instructions against him in
a negligence action. More often than not, a reluctance to
act in such matters is motivated by local considerations
and by an attitude of "there but for the Grace of Go d . . . ".
The above attitude is, however, of no consolation to the
layman who feels that he has suffered unfairly at the
hands of his solicitor and who wishes to seek legal redress.
Nor is it even relevant in most cases, because, as the
President pointed out, over 80 per cent of solicitors have
got Professional Indemnity Insurance.
The panel to be formed by the President will, hopefully,
be a first step in ensuring that persons with a genuine legal
grievance against a solicitor are neither denied a remedy
nor compelled to attempt to represent themselves in
seeking one. The notion that a solicitor should not be
asked to act against a colleague in the same immediate
geographical area will also do away with one of the
principal objections to solicitors taking on such cases.
At a time when the administration of all professions is
under public scrutiny it is essential that solicitors, more
than any other profession, can face that scrutiny with
confidence. •
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