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population. This, as Mr. Justice Kenny pointed out in
his submission to the Commission on Higher Education,
resulted in over-lapping, waste of resources, unneces-
sary duplication of Libraries and small salaries to staff.
Furthermore in the absence of full-time staff there was
almost no legal research and little legal writing.
With the requirement of a Degree as a pre-requisite
to enter a professional School, the Universities will no
doubt introduce courses of a more Theoretical nature
than before. Dr. Michael Tierney stated in 1966 to the
Commission on Higher Education "the requirements of
the professional Legal Bodies have had a strong indirect
effect on the U.C.D. course in Law. The practical
requirements of both the Legal professions have ren-
dered it difficult to give the courses for this degree in
anything other than a severely practical, professional
bias, and have avoided the kind of theoretical, his-
torical and philosophical training which is associated
with University Law courses in America and on the
Continent". Even now pressure is being put on U.C.D.
by the Law Society to include a course on Company
Law which comprises one of the subjects at the basis of
the Society's proposed Educational Curriculum.
Conflict between Theoretical and Practical approach to
Law
This conflict between the theoretical and practical
approach to law is dealt with by Mr. Justice Megarry
in his presidential address to the Society of Public
Teachers of Law in 1966. Theoretical education, he
contended, minimized the importance of facts. Aca-
demics include only relevant facts in examination
problems which are always, or nearly always based on
certainty. The facts are usually on all fours with some
Legal rule although the more enlightened lecturers
might leave out a relevant fact to test the student. A
practitioner however is faced with an imprecise
account of relevant and irrelevant facts which he has
to evaluate and it is for this reason that he requires
a practical education. A university student condenses
the relevant text book to note form for examination pur-
poses whereas a Solicitor or Barrister uses merely a line
or two from a text book and the relevant footnotes
reading the cases and magnifying the principle in order
to come to a solution of his problem. A student then is
taught to deal with the sources in a completely different
way from what he will be required to when he qualifies.
In an academic context, the examiner seeks perhaps a
touch of brilliance in a student; the qualities of a good
Solicitor however, are thoroughness and accuracy. It is
the practitioners job to avoid problems rather than
solve them. In a University exam context the subjects
are neatly compartmentalized. These compartments
however do not exist in practice and there one also has
to contend with the human element. It is much easier
for an academic to voice doubts about the value of a
point of law or a judicial decision. Were a practitioner
to challenge some such point which he doubts, he risks
his client's money. Mr. Justice Megarry, though he
shows up defects in theoretical Education from a prac-
titioner's point of view, does not try to advance a case
for a purely practical education.
Balance between Professional and University Course
In Legal Education, a balance must be struck between
both Professional and University Course. The new
system of training Solicitors would provide more scope
for an abstract study of law in a University context.
The new Professional Course would also help the
student to adapt the theories he learns in University to
the realities of Legal Practice. It is entirely necessary
nd desirable that one should pursue a University
Course to satisfy one's intellectual ouriosity. The fault
of the present training system is that the exercise of an
inquisitive mind jeopardises the process of note memor-
z:ng and thus the result of the important examination.
This type of education does not lead to the expansion
of a person's mind but the system becomes synonymous
with rigid limitation.
Non-Legal subjects necessary in University Course
Since the University Degree Course has now to a
certain extent been divorced from practical training I
am of the opinion that it should contain non-legal
subjects. A study of English and History would perhaps
be appropriate. The Report of the Solicitors' Appren-
tices' Debating Society to the Law Society on Legal
Education also held this view. A Lawyer tends to use a
great deal of technical jargon. In this way he expresses
his intentions concisely but I believe harms his overall
command of the English Language. The result is often
an inability to explain his actions to his clients. Apart
from this consideration the study of such subjects as
History and English will provide a broader based educa-
tion which in turn would make for a better Lawyer.
I realize there are pressures of both finance and time
which present difficulties but the student should at
least be given the option to pursue such a broader
course in the First Year of his studies. The reasoning
behind the recommendations of the Ormrod Report
relating to other studies of Legal Education from the
necessity of a University Degree is that it should awaken
a critical faculty in the student. A study of non-legal
subjects in my opinion would add to this critical faculty.
The Vocational Course of the Society
The second phase of legal education mentioned in
Ormrod is the Vocational Course. As from October 1975
the Incorporated Law Society requires that intending
Apprentices except in a couple of cases be University
Graduates. Law Graduates of Irish Universities are en-
titled to enter into Apprenticeship and to immediate
entry to the Society's Law School for the Vocational
Course. Arts Graduates of Irish or United Kingdom
Universities are automatically entitled to admission to
Apprenticeship but must pass the final exam—First
Part. The exception to the requirement for a degree is
that Law Clerks of 7 years standing can apply for
exemptions from the Preliminary Examination. Gradu-
ates from other disciplines or from other Universities
may apply for exemption from the Preliminary Examin-
ation but the grant of this is at the discretion of the
Law Society. Non-Graduates of 21 years and over may
sit for the Society's Preliminary Examination. The Final
Examination—First Part is of Degree Standard in what
Ormrod called the Core Subjects. In the Incorporated
Law Society's Sylllabus these are the Law of Real
Property, Tort, Contract, Constitutional Law, Com-
pany Law and another subject. A year is then spent
pursuing the Vocational Course. Since most of the
people who are being taught on this Course are Uni-
versity Graduates it presents a unique opportunity to
break away from the straight lecture system which is
being used in Solicitors' education. At present lectures
are merely dictation sessions. Tutorials, Group Dis-
cussions and Student Essays along with conventional
lectures should constitute the Study Course. It is in-
teresting to note that in both the Report of the Solici-
tors' Apprentices' Debating Society in 1967 and in a
Report by the Auditor of S.A.D.S.I. for the 84th
Session, Donough O'Connor, a preference was ex-
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