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months.
Before presenting the Certificates the
President said:—
L
adies
and
G
entlemen
—
This is a very important day in the lives o f many
of the young ladies and gentlemen whom we are
about to honour and congratulate to-day. Their days
o f apprenticeship are over and to-day they take a
step into a new world, they become Solicitors of the
Supreme Court of Justice in Ireland and accept all
the rights, duties and responsibilities that go with
entry into such a distinguished profession. That the
President o f this Society supported by the Council
is here to-day to hand them their Parchment Certi
ficates is evidence o f the fact that they will receive a
warm welcome into the ranks o f the profession.
Most o f you will find as you progress in your pro
fession that the things o f real and abiding value are
those which have stood the test o f time and the
judgment o f men over the years. Never forget that
you have entered a profession which is founded on
traditions which have been handed down through
the centuries. The outstanding tradition o f this pro
fession is one o f service to our clients. A client’s
interest must ever and always be put before one’s
own personal interest as a Solicitor. I f ever you
should find a conflict o f interest between the client’s
and your own there is only one course open to you
and that is the honourable one.
The concept o f professional service is particularly
important in our profession where clients trust us
daily with their family secrets, their reputation, their
money and frequently the decision o f a Solicitor in
reference to his client’s affairs can make or mar the
future and fortunes of large groups o f people. This
is a noble and honourable profession and its future
now lies in the hands o f you who are assembled here
to-day.
As times passes you will be confronted by prob
lems both personal and on behalf of clients and find
yourselves in situations which are undreamt o f here
to-day. Every practising Solicitor has had to face
them in greater or lesser degree. When that day
comes, as come it will, if there is just one piece of
advice which I could give you to remember always
when you are in a difficulty it is :
This above a ll; to thine own self be true ;
And it must follow as the night the day
Thou can’st not then be false to any man.
Certificates were subsequently presented to the
following :—
Binchy, Donal G.—Silver Medal; Gallery, Mary
A. B. M. I . ; Cawley, James—Silver Medal; Creagh,
Patrick J . ; Davitt, Cahir F. M .; Jones, Dermot F.
—Special Certificate ; Kenefick, Michael; Loftus,
Kevin Patrick; Lucas, Michael; McCormack,
Patrick J. ; Margetson, Ernest J . ; Matthews, Des
mond ; Murphy, Myles C .; O’Driscoll, Michael C. ;
O’Driscoll, Michael K . ; O’Reilly, Thomas Finbar ;
O’Mahony, Mary C. C.—ist place October, Overend
Scholarship, Silver Medal; O’Toole, Timothy F. ;
Pigot, David R. ; Rogers, Edward R. ; Taylor,
Francis E. A .— ist place April, Special Certificate.
The ceremony was attended by relatives and
friends of the new Solicitors.
A VISIT TO THE
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
Extract from Report o f the President
A
fter
I had addressed the Annual General
Meeting o f the State of New Jersey Bar Association
in June last Mr. Cody Fowler, President of the
American Bar Association, personally invited me
to return to New York in September to address
the American Bar Association. The Council agreed
that, as President, I should accept the invitation.
I travelled to America, with Mrs. Greene, on
the
lie de France
arriving at New York on the 13 th
September where I was greeted at the quayside
by Mr. Garth Healy, Irish Consul General in New
York. I stayed for the duration of the meeting in
the Waldorf Astoria as the guest of the American
Bar Association.
As the forty-eight States of America, are in fact,
separate States just as Ireland, England, France,
each State has its own separate legal system, laws
and judiciary. In addition, of course, over all there
is the Federal system o f laws and each State has
its own Federal Bench separate and apart from the
State Bench. Each State and each County in the
State has its own Bar Association. These facts
are well known but I merely restate them because
sometimes the full significance o f the separation of
States is not readily appreciated until one sees it
in operation.
In some States every practising lawyer must be
a member of the Bar Association and this they
call an Integrated Bar. In other States this does
not apply. By our standards a noteworthy point
is that the judiciary take a very active part in the
Bar Associations; attending, speaking, and voting
with, the ordinary practitioners.
Some judges
are appointed by the Governor of the State, others
are elected by popular vote for periods o f from
7 to 14 years. Most of the judges and great numbers
of the practitioners take a very five and active
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