The Gazette 1946-49

GAZETTE

SEPTEMBER

1988

From the President . . .

SOLICITOR

A dynamic new Dublin business requires a

legal assistant to work in their conveyanc-

ing department. First class legal ability and

organisational talent are essential. Some

experience in practice is important as is

liaison with financial institutions. The

position offers excellent career prospects,

a firstclass working environment as well as

a highly competitive salary. Send career

details to:

Solicitor,

Eason Advertising,

66, Middle Abbey Street,

Dublin 1.

Solicitor/Legal Executive.

London, Kensington

solicitors seek solicitor / legal

executive, minimum one years

residential conveyancing.

If you are coming to London in the

next one/two months please write/

fax C.V. to:

Dorothy A. Hurrell

69, Kensington Church St.

London W8.

Fax No. 01-938-4871

service, you can charge a good fee,

if you give a bad service, forget

about it.

The lawyer of the future will have

a computer on his desk wh i ch will

have access to vast quantities of

knowledge covering research, case

law, up-to-date financial informa-

tion and all relevant material for a

solicitor to carry on his practice.

Computer time will be a chargeable

item to be included in a client's bill

and will be on a pay-as-you-see

basis. The Law Society must

provide this basic set-up and

information to enable the member

to give an enhanced service to the

public.

The t wo aspects of practice

wh i ch trouble the other jurisdict-

ions are firstly, the encroachment

of professional work carried out by

solicitors and secondly, the contin-

ued increase in overheads wh i ch

erode the profitability of the office.

There is no ready answer to the

first problem except that the pro-

fession must continue to self

improve so that the general public

will have no hesitation in choosing

aving recently returned from

foreign parts I now realise

all the more the increased

dep th of know l edge that you

acquire from watching how the

profession in other parts of the

world tackle their problems.

Let me say at the outset that I am

more convinced than ever before

that there is a definite future for the

good

lawyer.

The accent in the future will be

on delivery of service. As I have

said before, if you give a good

the expert professional service

rather t h an t he s e c o nd rate

alternative.

It is interesting to learn that in

America and Canada, they are

moving away from absolute time

costing to a situation where they

also consider the value of the

service to the particular client in

measuring the fee. In this way, they

feel they can combat the increasing

overheads which, at times, go as

high as 7 0% - 8 0% of the practice

turnover.

The lawyer of the future, giving

a good service, based on his skill

and knowledge and allied to a full

back-up system can provide the

public w i th what they require -

namely a speedy and effective

recourse to a legal service at a fair

day's pay for a fair day's work. The

lawyer who can do this has nothing

to fear from all the changes in

wh i ch we are currently embroiled.

•

J U

fWy

Thomas D. Shaw

President

GAZETTE

Submission of material

The Gazette Editorial Board welcomes

t he submi ss ion of short art icles

(800-1,500 words) on topics of popular

interest. Articles should be typed on A4

paper, double spaced and should be

addressed to:

The Executive Editor,

Law Society Gazette,

Blackhall Place,

Dublin 7.

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