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GAZETTE

MAY 1988

From the President . . .

The proposals of the Minister for

the Environment to permit Building

Societies and other Financial

I ns t i t u t i ons

to

engage

in

conveyancing has brought a lot of

controversy to the profession in

recent weeks.

Let me say at the outset that the

Council are resolutely against the

proposal on the basis that there is

no demand for such a revolutionary

change and that it is not in the

public interest. It is interesting to

note that other institutions have

expressed oppos i t i on to the

proposal and t hat t he Lord

Chancellor in England has not seen

fit to bring in similar sections of

English legislation because he is

not satisfied that the public interest

would be adequately protected.

At the same time, we must

consider the service which is being

currently given to the public and

examine whether this can be

improved or not.

In my view, it can. I believe that

we must move away from the

concept of merely transferring

property and move into the realm

of being advisers to the client.

Has he accepted the right type of

mortgage?

What is the best Insurance Policy

to take out for the transaction?

What is his tax position as far as

mortgage relief is concerned?

In order to be able to answer

these queries the solicitor must be

up to date with the legislation and

study the relevant provisions. This

means, in effect, going back to

school.

The Society must urgently

consider the appropriate vehicle to

provide such information to the

practitioner. The practitioner, for his

part, must improve his knowledge

so as to be able to provide the best

advice for his client.

In this way, we will be able to

show to our clients that the

personal approach with the best of

information and advice is a far

superior way of doing business

than leaving it to a nameless

person, who is not aware of any

personal circumstances, working

for

one

of

the

f i nanc i al

supermarkets.

The future is all about giving a

good service.

Q

A . ^U

CW

j

T HOMAS D. SHAW

President

EUROPEAN LAWYERS UNION

CONGRESS IN RHODES JUNE 1988

The European Lawyers Union, the recently established organisation of practising Lawyers from the

Member States of the EEC, is holding its s e c o nd Annual Cong r e ss on the Greek island of Rh o d es

from Thursday 16th to Saturday 18th J une 1 9 8 8. The title of the working pr og r amme (three half-day

sessions) is:

"Undertakings in the EEC

Present Status and Perspectives for 1992"

In this general context there will be a wide range of topics including competition law, financial and

taxation aspects of undertakings, agricultural undertakings, social aspects of undertakings, intellectual

property rights, the Single European Act etc. The speakers will include J ud g es of the Court of Justice,

officials of the EEC Commi s s i on and private lawyers. The social activities should also be worth the trip.

Membe rs and n o n -memb e rs alike are very we l c ome. For further information (or information generally

on the organisation) p l e a se contact as s o on as possible:

GERALD MOLONEY,

G. J. Mo l on ey & Company, Solicitors,

2 7 / 2 9 Washington Street,

Cork.

Telephone: 0 2 1 / 2 7 5 2 6 1

Fax: 0 2 1 / 2 7 1 5 8 6

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