541 / 822
GAZETTE
DECEMBER 1988
not been developed in depth. The
primary consideration here has
been to direct attention to what
seems a lacuna in management
direction and supervision wh i ch
must be dealt with. Failure so to do
is to encourage undesirable com-
mercial practices and to facilitate
fraud. As Professor Gower has
been compelled to recognise, there
are no easy solutions for investor
protection w i th supervision of
market practices and dealings.
Equally, if t he re are to be
s u p e r v i s o ry
agen c i e s,
t he
importance of legal audit supple-
me n t a ry t o a c c o u n t i ng aud it
cannot be understated.
The company solicitors, to no
small extent, would have to take a
s t a nd
i n d e p e n d e nt
of
t he
convenience of the Board and
management. Once that role was
recognised, there should be no
need of duplication of company
solicitors to check on company
solicitors. A solicitor has to take
personal responsibility for the
correctness of his reports and
conduct so that the report system
wou ld itself be a discipline. The
legal reports would obviously be
considered by the a c c oun t i ng
auditors in finalising their report on
the accounts, as well as being
considered, presumably at the
same time, by the Board, wh i ch
might want to take steps to remedy
any deficiencies or manage any
crises disclosed prior to the pub-
lication of results to shareholders.
The legal reports as such wou ld
not, in t he ordinary way, be
available to shareholders; they
might well contain very sensitive
material which, in the shareholders'
own interest in the continued
wellbeing of the company, should
not be disclosed to customers,
suppliers or competitors. On the
other hand, such legal reports could
we ll bring about ad j us tmen t s,
qualifications and initiatives that
might otherwise be overlooked.
The legal reports would be available
to inspectors, the Official Receiver
and the like.
Submission
The development of compulsory
legal audit and the disciplines
wh i ch this wou ld involve can only
improve the standards of corporate
life. It should serve to protect the
position not only of shareholders
but of employees, as a means of
supervising management, monitor-
ing accounting and rectitude.
A c c o u n t i ng
aud i t,
w i t h
its
emphasis on standards wh i ch
d e p e nd on a s s ump t i o ns
by
accountants, w i t hout expert legal
support, must be unsatisfactory
and inadequate in isolation. This is
underlined by the g r ow th of the
practice of requiring auditors to
tender for audit work.
•
POSITION SOUGHT by young enthusias-
tic- solicitor (admitted in
U
.K.), LL.B., M.A.,
2 years post-qual. obtained principally in
Company and Taxation with substantial City
practice but good all-round apprentice ex-
perience. Will consider anything interesting,
preferably in Dublin.
Call 031-4936040. Ext. 1431. Mon-'
:
rl.
or 031-3544094 Sat - Sun.and Evenings
Obituary - Thomas Valentine O'Connor
By the death last week of Thomas Valentine O'Connor,
the West of Ireland and Mayo in particular has lost one
of its most well k nown personages and the legal
profession one of its most respected and brilliant lawyers.
Val, as he was k nown to everyone, practised as a
Solicitor in Swinford and Kiltimagh for over f i f ty years.
His father Patrick O'Connor founded the firm wh i ch
became k nown as P. O'Connor & Son and built up a fine
practice acting also as Coroner for the eastern part of
the County of Mayo amd became father of the then Mayo
Sessional Bar.
Val, was educated at Blackrock College, Dublin,
obtained his degree at University College Dublin and
qualified as a Solicitor.
He then returned to Swinford and joined his father in
the family practice.
Val soon established himself in his own right in the
practice and extended and enhanced it. He followed his
father as Coroner in East Mayo.
While he gained much himself out of law Val also put
much back into it, for sixteen years he served as an
elected member of the Council of the Incorporated Law
Society of Ireland and in the year 1972 had the honour
of being elected President of the Society - the first
President of the Law Society f r om County Mayo. He
served this office w i t h great distinction and w i th great
personal effort of travelling long distances f r om County
Mayo.
Sadly over the last f ew years Val's health slowly
deteriorated but he kept on practising as long as possible,
always w i t h the devoted care and help of his w i fe Kay.
All Val's four sons have followed in his footsteps and
have qualified as Solicitors. Two have practised in
Swinford w i t h him and t wo in Dublin so the tradition
carries on in even greater strength but those of us who
stood at the graveside and paid our last respects to " Pop"
as his little granddaughter called him in prayer in the
Church felt we were parting from an unusual man, greatly
learned in the law and of great integrity and our sympathy
goes out to Kay and their four sons and their families.
P.P.
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