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GAZETTE
MAY 1988
From the President . . .
The proposals of the Minister for
the Environment to permit Building
Societies and other Financial
I ns t i t u t i ons
to
engage
in
conveyancing has brought a lot of
controversy to the profession in
recent weeks.
Let me say at the outset that the
Council are resolutely against the
proposal on the basis that there is
no demand for such a revolutionary
change and that it is not in the
public interest. It is interesting to
note that other institutions have
expressed oppos i t i on to the
proposal and t hat t he Lord
Chancellor in England has not seen
fit to bring in similar sections of
English legislation because he is
not satisfied that the public interest
would be adequately protected.
At the same time, we must
consider the service which is being
currently given to the public and
examine whether this can be
improved or not.
In my view, it can. I believe that
we must move away from the
concept of merely transferring
property and move into the realm
of being advisers to the client.
Has he accepted the right type of
mortgage?
What is the best Insurance Policy
to take out for the transaction?
What is his tax position as far as
mortgage relief is concerned?
In order to be able to answer
these queries the solicitor must be
up to date with the legislation and
study the relevant provisions. This
means, in effect, going back to
school.
The Society must urgently
consider the appropriate vehicle to
provide such information to the
practitioner. The practitioner, for his
part, must improve his knowledge
so as to be able to provide the best
advice for his client.
In this way, we will be able to
show to our clients that the
personal approach with the best of
information and advice is a far
superior way of doing business
than leaving it to a nameless
person, who is not aware of any
personal circumstances, working
for
one
of
the
f i nanc i al
supermarkets.
The future is all about giving a
good service.
Q
A . ^U
CW
j
T HOMAS D. SHAW
President
EUROPEAN LAWYERS UNION
CONGRESS IN RHODES JUNE 1988
The European Lawyers Union, the recently established organisation of practising Lawyers from the
Member States of the EEC, is holding its s e c o nd Annual Cong r e ss on the Greek island of Rh o d es
from Thursday 16th to Saturday 18th J une 1 9 8 8. The title of the working pr og r amme (three half-day
sessions) is:
"Undertakings in the EEC
Present Status and Perspectives for 1992"
In this general context there will be a wide range of topics including competition law, financial and
taxation aspects of undertakings, agricultural undertakings, social aspects of undertakings, intellectual
property rights, the Single European Act etc. The speakers will include J ud g es of the Court of Justice,
officials of the EEC Commi s s i on and private lawyers. The social activities should also be worth the trip.
Membe rs and n o n -memb e rs alike are very we l c ome. For further information (or information generally
on the organisation) p l e a se contact as s o on as possible:
GERALD MOLONEY,
G. J. Mo l on ey & Company, Solicitors,
2 7 / 2 9 Washington Street,
Cork.
Telephone: 0 2 1 / 2 7 5 2 6 1
Fax: 0 2 1 / 2 7 1 5 8 6
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