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been given to registering on computers all titles
to property
in Cook County,
Illinois,
in the
U.S.A. It is possible with a machine presently
under development
to photograph every
title
deed, store it and later retrieve it so that a con
veyancer may mechanically examine copies of all
deeds in a title by dialling the Sasine Register of
1984 and then flashing each writ on a television
screen in his office. This last machine is not a
pipe dream—it is actually going to function in
the U.S.A. within a period of months. That the
registration of all title to land in Scotland will
one day be stored on a "Sasine" computer seems
a certainty. Our law of property will require to
be adapted so that it can be readily programmed.
Is it possible that the computer will supply a
further impetus
towards conveyancing reform?
Again in Cook County, Illinois, all tax records of
every citizen are stored on computer. What other
areas can be affected by such machines? Mechani
cally it is possible to programme the whole law,
but the cost and work will be enormous. It might
be possible, however, to programme all new legis
lation. Strides are being made
in
the United
States of America in programming libraries. This
does not mean that the computer will
tell us
where to find a particular book—rather will it
tell which line of which page of which book will
provide the answer to the problem.
Sooner or later the State will have the fullest
details on computer of every citizen. What effect
will this have on criminal law? What of the rights
of the individual? What of secrecy? Computers
will enable Criminal Court Judges
to give a
country-wide uniformity of sentences. Rents will
be collected and feuduties paid by electronic
brain.
Scottish legal education has been vastly
im
proved in recent years and the present system
is a good one. A greater degree of liaison bet
ween the Law Society and the Universities should
be encouraged. Recently there have been reports
of the introduction of specialised law courses in
particular subjects and this must be encouraged.
Post-graduate degrees in subjects such as taxation
and company law are an exciting possibility. Real
experts on these subjects, readily available to the
public, will gradually recover much of the work
that has been lost to other professions, particularly
to chartered accountants. Refresher courses for
practising solicitors should be developed. Already
the local faculties are encouraging lectures in new
subjects and the talks on the Land Commission
Act were excellent examples of this innovation.
More of this should be done. The Glasgow Bar
Association with
considerable
success
organise
study week-ends. This year their topic for dis
cussion is "Office Organisation and Methods", a
most important subject about which
the pro
fession has much to learn.
Is a formal apprenticeship still necessary? Con
sideration should be given to the rather out-dated
rules of apprenticeship. Is it still necessary for an
entrant to the profession to become an apprentice
and enter into a formal indenture? Would it not
be sufficient simply to require each intrant to the
profession to practise for two or three years with
an approved solicitor before being entitled to
practise on his own? At the end of the three
years the "Master" would be required to satisfy
the Law Society that the entrant was suitably
qualified.
What of the much discussed question of ad
vertising, a somewhat over-rated subject. The
reason why solicitors want to advertise is usually
because they are conscious that they are losing
work to the other professions. But the way to
recover lost ground is not by advertising. Rather
is it by re-organising the profession so that it can
give the public the expert service that the public
requires. Lawyer selection does seem to present a
difficulty to the public. As was mentioned earlier,
the population is now much more mobile and the
type of solicitor who advised one generation may
be unable to help the next, because of a move to
another part of
the country or because one
solicitor may not be an expert on the next genera
tion's particular problem. It does seem that some
advertising of a special qualification should be
considered. This would help the country solicitor
in referring matters to his city colleague and it
would also allow the public to refer to some
public law list which would indicate which in
dividual solicitor or which firms were qualified in
particular fields.
In the legal profession of the future a strong
Law Society is essential. It must carry on all the
functions which
it presently attempts with
its
limited
revenue. One of
the more
important
aspects of its work will be public relations on
which a substantial share of its revenue will be
spent. As was said earlier in this paper, this is an
age of criticism and it is all too easy and perhaps
too common to criticise solicitors. A planned Pub
lic Relations campaign is therefore necessary. The
Law Society's present budget is small and the
number of its staff is rightly kept to a minimum.
In England there are 39 senior administrative
Law Society staff, of whom 18 are qualified
solicitors and
the
full
staff
is
approximately
107