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imbalance of the impression conveyed, the follow
ing points must be made :
(1) There are approximately
200
barristers
practising in this country and very few, if any, of
these regularly earn as much as £10,000 a year.
Unlike other professions, the fees which members
of both branches of the
legal profession may
"command" are in most matters effectively limited
by statutory regulation and what a Taxing Master
will allow.
(2) The assertion that after three years a junior
barrister may expect to earn £5,000 to £6.000
can have no basis in fact. Most junior barristers
wait twice as long to make half that amount. A
great number, if not the majority of the profession,
will never earn that amount in one year through
out their entire careers. While a survey recently
commissioned by the Bar Council is not yet com
plete, a survey in England showed that an average
barrister earns £2,000 a year. In England there
is a shortage of barristers, fees are far higher
and there is a full legal aid system on both the
criminal and civil sides.
(3) Barristers cannot sue for their fees and must
write off a high percentage of fees as never likely
to be paid.
(4) A barristers income is without any stability
and he cannot look forward to a definite pension
or even of ever retiring.
(5) Whatever income he does achieve, he must
pay all his own expenses of spending weeks from
home on circuit, his own secretarial expenses and
the continual cost of keeping abreast of legislation
and legal literature.
We feel that to give advice upon a career based
solely on visions of glamour and unrealistic figures
is misleading. The Bar is a satisfying career, but
it
is also, for many, rewarding without being
remunerative.
JOHN D. COOKE
Honorary Secretary
The Young Barristers Society
Law Library, Four Courts, Dublin 7.
We quote Career Leaflet No. 96,
titled "The
Barrister-at-Law", issued by the Department of
Labour—"A barrister is paid by way of fees from
solicitors. In his early years at the bar, instructions
from solicitors may be few and a new barrister
should be prepared to support himself otherwise
for at least three years, but when he has success
fully handled some cases he will become known
and his work will increase. A family connection
with the law is obviously of great advantage, but,
as in other professions, success mainly depends on
the barrister's intelligence and ability, his con
scientiousness and his capacity for hard work of a
difficult and very responsible nature. A successful
junior counsel may earn up to £5,000 a year and
a senior counsel twice that amount. For counsel
at the top whose services are in heavy demand
these amounts may be considerably exceeded."
Our own "Guide to Careers" booklet published in
1968 states that a junior counsel's annual income
might be anything up to £5,000 but points out
that there are many practising at the Bar who
earn a great deal less than the figures quoted.—
Editor.
[Irish Independent,
16 July 1970]
COMMISSIONERS OF CHARITABLE
DONATIONS AND BEQUESTS
Board Meetings, Michaelmas Term, 1970
Tuesday, 15 September 1970.
Tuesday, 6 October 1970.
Tuesday, 20 October 1970.
Tuesday, 3 November 1970.
Tuesday, 17 November 1970.
Tuesday, 1 December 1970.
Tuesday, 15 December 1970.
REVIEWS OF LAW BOOKS
By arrangement with the leading law publishers
in London, review copies of recently-published
law books will be available for review
in
the
Gazette
shortly.
It is intended to draw up a list of members who
would be interested to reivew law books in the
Gazette.
The Editor will indicate the length (in
words) of the review required, and the latest date
on which the completed review is to be received;
in their own interest, reviewers will be expected
to comply with the Editor's request. Reviewers
will be entitled to retain the books submitted to
them for review, subject to the Editor's conditions
having been fulfilled.
Members who wish to offer their services as
reviewers should contact Mr. Gavan Duffy, stating
which subjects of law they are interested in.
LAND REGISTRY CONVEYANCING
PRACTICE RECOMMENDATION
Having regard to representations received from
a number of members as to difficulties in connec
tion with
the
transfer of
registered
land
the
Council have decided to recommend to the profes-
92