The Gazette 1991

GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1991

courses on the "essential" list. The

lawyer who, like myself, is con-

stantly alarmed by the extent of his

own ignorance, will find this book

instructive in a refreshing and

helpful way.

DR. DAVID TOMK IN

T H E

B U S I N E SS

P A R T N E R S H I PS

Peter J. Oliver and Nigel T. Davey

Second Edition, Sweet & Maxwell,

London 1990.

" No doubt it will be a long time

before lawyers are as deft at

marketing as they are at litigation,

or advocacy, but at least it is now

recognised as an impo r t ant

discipline". So writes Jeremy

Stratton in an interesting article on

the general strategies of marketing

solicitors' practices in the

New Law

Journal

of Friday, December 14th

1990. (Vol. 140 No. 6484 p.

1759-60). This being so, there is no

shortage of U.K. and indeed Irish

material which aims to induct the

managing partner into some of the

mysteries of catering for growth

and control of a legal business: for

example, were you at or did you get

the conference papers from the half

day conference "Big Bang in the

Legal Profession" on Tuesday 20th

November (sponsored by the

Sunday Business Post and Wang

(Ireland) Ltd.)?

This book,

The Business of

Partnerships,

is a modest account

of the organisation of professional

partnerships. It deals with matters

such as the firms accounts, time

recording, planning and budgeting,

reporting results, capital, U.K.

taxation aspects, the salaried

partner, provision for retirement,

mergers and splits, and attracting

new work. The information pro-

vided is really quite basic, but the

book is well written and helpful as

a starting point or indeed as a

check list. Generally books written

on practice management by those

who make overt their connection

w i t h a particular professional

practice have something of a sub-

text; if you really want to know the

answers come and consult us

professionally! This book refrains

from suggesting that the sole route

to profitability lies via Touche Ross

and its management consultants.

What is the relevance of this

book to Irish practitioners?

If you know precisely what your

future market is and how you are

going to increase your market share

then this book will be a useful

check list. If like so many of my

friends and contemporaries in

practice you are either not sure

where your market lies nor have

you enough time to take off from

current demands of practice to find

out where it lies you should

perhaps consider reading this book.

The real problem here lies in our

local variables: a changing regu-

latory framework for the profes-

sions, an imminent single European

market, a profile of commercial

work quite different from that

obtaining in the U.K., a high

dependence on commercial work

referred to Irish practitioners from

non-Irish lawyers - none of these

issues are addressed by this

modest book, and so I wonder

whether the reader who had done

her or his groundwork will find this

book insufficient.

What this book really taught me

is that there's room for a joint work

between the Law Society and one

of our marketing institutions, to be

called something like "Marketing

Legal Services from Ireland in 1991

and after."

DR. DAVID TOMK IN

PRESIDENT APPOINTS NEW JUDGE OF THE HIGH COURT

Mr. Justice Frederick Morris receiving his warrant of appointment as a Judge of the

High Court from President Mary Robinson at Aras an Uachtarain on 20 December,

1990. Also included are Mr. Peter Ryan, Secretary to the President and Mr. John

Murray S.G, Attorney General.