The Gazette 1991

GAZETTE

OCTOBER 1991

ments, and datafiles, created over

the past five years onto my Wang

PC.

Have I discarded my love, you may

ask? No, she is still going strong,

having been fitted with a second

disc drive making her a PCW 8512

and she has now been joined by a

younger sister, the PCW 9512, both

of which are in daily use. New-

comers on the staff find little or no

difficulty in getting to know and

love

Joyce

the way I once did.

If I were asked if there is one single

aspect of

Joyce

that I find most

admirable it is her ability to make

friends with anybody. On a number

of occasions over the past five

years we have had changes in staff

for various reasons and I have

found that newcomers with no

formal wordprocessing training

have been able, within a few days,

to use

Joyce

without any great

difficulty. None would go back to a

typewriter again.

Another advantage with having the

8512 and 9512 is that discs are

interchangeable between the 9512

drive and the B drive of the 8512 so

that if, for example, the daisywheel

printer on the 9512 breaks down,

one can move the disc being used

on the 9512 into the B Drive on the

8512 and print one's file out using

the dot matrix printer. Recently I

have scrapped the daisywheel

printer which the 9512 comes

bundled with and linked a brother

laser printer and a star printer to the

Wang PC and the 9512.

Those of you who use word-

processors are well aware of why

they have become so indispen-

sable. However, for those who are

still using typewriters, electric or

otherwise, I shall outline some of

the uses to which our office has

put them.

District Court

Most of our work in the District

Court is defence or road traffic

prosecutions both for our own

clients and also on an agency basis

for other solicitors all over the

country. We have set up a court list

304

t emp l a te w i t h the f o l l ow i ng

headings:-

instructions

As we receive instructions either

from our own clients or from

colleagues, the data is inserted in

the court list for the relevant court

and saved on disc. Each case is

given a number and the papers,

summonses etc. relating to that

case are pinned together and given

the same number. From experience

have found that we receive

instructions from colleagues and

defendants themselves, right up to

within 15 minutes of the court

sitting, both by phone and now by

fax.

A printout is then done of the court

list on the morning of the court and

given to the author together with

the papers, literally minutes before

s/he goes to court. Naturally s/he

will have seen the incoming in-

structions as they arrive. Standard

letters are then produced after

court, in which the result of the

case is given in the first schedule

to the letter, and our fee is given in

the second schedule. Notices of

appeal, recognisances, warrants

etc. are also set up and can be

edited speedily after the court, if

required.

We pride ourselves on being able to

notify all those who have instruct-

ed us, layman or lawyer alike, of the

result of the case by post within 48

hours of the end of the court. My

only wish is that we always got

paid as promptly!

In an effort to expedite this service,

we are currently setting up a data-

file using a program called Locofile

so that we will have the names and

addresses of all our colleagues

around the country from whom we

regularly receive instructions avail-

able to import into these reporting

letters automatically using the mail

merge facility of Locomail. Both

Locomail and Locofile are fully

integrated with Locoscript which is

the wordprocessiong package

which comes bundled with the

Amstrad. Locofont is another

program that can be purchased.

As well as this, we have set up a

precedent set of forms for debt

collection, licensing applications,

local authority summonses (eg.

litter, for possession, planning)

warrants, civil processes, with en-

dorsements of claim set up as

separate files, which can be pasted

in.

Circuit Court and High Court

Precedents of all forms which

we normally use are set up on in-

dividual discs with separate files

for standard initiating letters, letters

to doctors for medical reports,

letters to witnesses, engineers,

etc. Endorsement of claim, notice

for particulars, garda reports

and various

other

standard

letters.

Wills, probate and administration

We have set up precedents of

various types of wills over the past

5/6 years including single testator/

testatrix, mutual wills of married

persons, and discretionary trusts.

Various types of clauses are set up

as individual files, as are different

types of attestation clauses for

use when the testator/rix is suf-

fering from some disability eg.

blindness.

Being close to nursing homes, and

hospitals, we find that it is of great

assistance to be able to take in-

structions at a person's bedside,

and get a printout of that person's

will within minutes, ready for

execution. Speed can be vital on

occasions like this. These wills we

call "intensive care wills".

In this age of universal travel we

have found that it is again in-

valuable to be able to take instruct-

ions from a client in the office an

hour or two before s/he is travelling

abroad, and produce the will there

We pride ourselves on being able to notify. . . the

result of a case by post within 48 hours of the end

of Court