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GAZETTE
NOVEMBER 1991
on what the student did. Body
language is not emphasised since
the playbacks demonstrate it to the
students. In any case such pro-
blems tend to disappear as the skill
and confidence of the student
develop over the three days. At the
end of the process students are
given pointers on one or two
aspects of their presentation that
they need to work on.
Laurence Sweeney
says it would
not be possible to run the course
without the co-operation of a panel
of 40 consultants comprising two
District Judges, former judges in-
cluding High Court Judge
Herbert
McWilliam
and President of the
District Court Judge
Oliver Macklin,
barristers, state solicitors and
defence solicitors. Why do they
become Involved and give so
generously of their time?
Laurence
Sweeney
says " I think it is because
they want to contribute - 'to give
something back' - they learn
from it and from each other, and
also simply, because they enjoy
it."
Advocacy training is clearly here to
stay. One student,
Joe Kelly,
Auditor of SADSI, and member of
the Society's Younger Members
Committee has no doubts about its
benefits. "It's confidence building"
he says "and I can see the spin-
off of it reflected among our
debaters."
Barbara Caha/ane
YOUR WILL
can help
Irish Wheelchair Association
For donations and furthorparticulars contact:
Miriam McNally
Irish Wheelchair Association
Áras Chuchulan, Blackheath Drive,
Clontarf. Dublin 3. Tel: 338241
IRISH
WHEELCHAIR
ASSOCIATION
Job Prospects at Home
and Abroad
SADSI recently organised a
seminar on job prospects at
home and abroad for newly
qualified solicitors. Speakers
from UK, US, Australia and
Europe outlined the practical
aspects, advantages and dis-
advantages of working
abroad.
UK experience
There was strong representation
from the big London law firms;
David Ranee
and
Guy Whalley
from
Freshfields,
Niall Morgan
from
Slaughter & May,
Nicholas Jordan
from Clifford Chance and
Alexandra
Marks
from Findlaters & Paines.
These speakers discussed the
functions of the big City firms in
providing backup services to
London as a financial and business
centre. They outlined the facilities
afforded in terms of career develop-
ment, continuous training, the
backup of libraries, investment in
information technology and oppor-
tunities for specialisation. Addition-
ally, many operate offices in other
continental and worldwide locations
and give opportunities for short or
long term placement in these
locations. Most recruit approxi-
mately one third of their staff from
outside the firm, and look for people
with a good commercial back-
ground with two to three years'
post qualification experience. They
look for people who add value to the
services they provide.
UK slump limits opportunities
An increase in the number of people
qualifying in England and Wales,
together with an overall slump in
business due to the recession have
severely limited opportunities in
London at present. However, some
firms are still recruiting in particular
areas and it was stressed that things
can change quite rapidly. The firms
tend to take a long term view that
people with the type of experience
they require should contact them if
interested in pursuing a career in the
City.
Ann Counihan,
who is now Head of
Legal and Corporate Affairs at the
National Treasury Management
Agency, outlined her experiences of
working in a big city law firm and
in Manufacturers Hanover Bank as
an in-house lawyer. She also
documented the activities of the
London Irish solicitor's Bar
Association and their success in
having Irish solicitors admitted in
England and Wales.
US - recovery will bring
opportunities
John
Chrisman
represented
Sullivan & Cromwell of New York
and he is based in their London
office. He discussed legal develop-
ments from an American per-
spective and plotted the response
of American law firms in terms of
changing economic activity, firstly
to new areas in the US and now to
Europe and further afield. His view
was that law is a vital component
in furthering global economic
progress. From a US perspective,
he felt that Irish lawyers who
travelled should sell themselves as
being European lawyers as he felt
this would have significant prestige
in the US in particular. He said that
legal services had been hit hard in
the US recession following a period
of unprecedented expansion, but
felt that long term, there would be
a recovery with new opportunities.
Conor McAu/iffe
worked in diff-
erent areas of the US and did an
LLM in the University of Michigan.
He mentioned that different states
in the US have different require-
ments in terms of qualifying for
their bar exams. Normally, it takes
three years to re-qualify; however,
it is possible in various States to
negotiate up to two years off
this period depending on qualifica-
tions. He felt that if people are
going to the US, they should
consider going to areas such as
New Mexico and Arizona which
offer far more opportunities than
some of the crowded traditional
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