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GAZETTE
DECEMBER 1988
INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting of
Ireland was held at Blackhall
17 November, 1988.
Before the formal business opened
the President, Mr. Thomas D. Shaw
w e l c omed t he memb e rs and,
especially Mr. John Jennings,
President-elect of the Canadian Bar
Association, and Mrs. Jennings.
Having signed the Minutes of the
Half-Yearly General Meeting, held in
Cork on May 7th, 1988, the audited
a c c o u n ts for t he year ended
December 31st last were reviewed.
Mr. Brendan Garvan was alarmed
w i t h the results as reflected in the
Income & Expenditure Account.
The actual ou t come for the year
was a deficit of £15,167, compared
w i th a surplus of £ 2 9 , 6 33 for the
previous year. He objected to the
inclusion of the "Wr i te Back of
Reserve" £36 , 058, wh i ch gave a
s u r p l us of £ 2 0 , 8 9 1, t h e r e by
disguising the real deficit. He
added, however, that the Society's
Reserves in the Balance Sheet
appeared adequate.
In the light of the activities for
the year ended December 31st,
1987, the Society wou ld have to
think seriously about where it was
going, having regard to inflation, as
the figures continue to be above
the general level. The return on
capital employed was going d own
year by year culminating in a
negative return for the current year.
At the same time, the cost of the
Practising Ce r t i f i c a te was in-
creasing at a rate beyond the rate
of inflation and the Soc i e t y 's
continuing rising costs wou ld give
rise to f u r t h er i n c r e a s es in
Practising Certificate fees. Mr.
Garvan urged a cost reduction
exercise i mme d i a t e ly and t he
reduction of overheads by 5%.
Committee Chairman's Reply
The Chairman of the Finance
C omm i t t e e,
Mr.
Er nest
J.
Ma r ge t s on, replying to po i n ts
raised by Mr. Garvan, said that
there had been increased outlay on
3 32
the Incorporated Law Society of
Place, Dublin 7, on Thursday,
extra staff for key areas, greater
c omm i t me nt in the c ommu n i-
cations area, and in the institutional
advertising project. Dealing w i th
the return on capital employed, Mr.
Ma r g e t s on
q u e s t i o n ed
t he
relevance of this point, wh i ch had
been raised by Mr. Garvan, as the
Society is not a commercial trading
concern and operates w i t h in the
income available f r om fees and
miscellaneous activities.
On the matter of the Practising
Certificate fee level, Mr. Margetson
referred to the table of fees payable
over recent years wh i ch shows an
increase in the total contribution
level from £ 4 86 in 1984 to £ 5 45 in
1988, 12% in four years. Every
effort is made to control expense
and he cited the present budget
review as a case in point; every
item of income and expenditure is
examined in detail for justification.
A point raised by Mr. Garvan on
"Wr i te Back of Reserve" in the
Income and Expenditure Account is
being given a wr i t t en reply as the
answer involves a previous year's
accounts.
The President expressed his
support for the statements made
by Mr. Margetson and assured the
Meeting that, from his first hand
experience, particularly during this
year, the finance of the Society is
being properly and efficiently man-
aged. The adoption of the Accounts
was agreed unanimously on the
proposal of Mr. Patrick O'Connor
and Mr. Raymond Monahan.
Appo i n tment of Messrs. Cooper
and Lybrand as Aud i t o rs was
unanimously agreed on the motion
of Mr. Ernest Margetson, seconded
by Mr. Frank Daly. Mr. Margetson
we l comed Mr. R. Lane and Mr. K.
Byrne of Cooper & Lybrand and
thanked t hem for their services to
the Society, especially in settling
the tax position wh i ch was under
query for several years.
Advertising Ballot
The ballot on Ad v e r t i s i ng by
Solicitors showed a total valid poll
of 1,976 (with 54 spoiled votes)
and the following results:
Solicitors should be
entitled to advertise
1,013
Solicitors should not be
entitled to advertise
9 63
Reports from Committees
Dealing w i t h the Report of the
Council the President expressed
thanks on behalf of the members to
t he
P r o f e s s i o n al
Pu r po s es
Comm i t t ee for t he ir wo rk in
producing the Guide to Professional
Conduct of Solicitors in Ireland.
On the Report of the Education
Committee Mr. Brendan Garvan
r e f e r r ed t o t he t h r e at f r om
University Professors to the effect
that they wou ld w i t hd r aw their
services f r om the conduct of Law
Society examinations. In his view
the Society should be completely
independent of the Universities in
the running of the Law School.
When discussing the Report of
the Younger Members' Committee,
t he P r es i dent w e l c o m ed Ms.
Miriam Reynolds, and congrat-
ulated her on her Election to the
Council. He cong r a t u l a t ed Mr.
Cullen and the Costs Committee on
the publication of the Costs Book,
wh i ch wou ld be of considerable
value to p r ac t i t i one r s. It rep-
resented a tremendous voluntary
effort on the part of Mr. Cullen and
his Commi t t ee colleagues wh i ch
had been commenced when Mr.
Cullen was President of the Society
some three years earlier. The
President's remarks were received
with applause.
The adoption of the Council
Report was proposed by Mr. D. R.
Pigot, seconded by Mr. Stephen
Maher and agreed unanimously.
The New Council
The Scrutineers of the Ballot for
election to the Council made the
following report: