The Gazette 1974

Associated Television in Birmingham, and to provide

a le

gal commentary for BBC Radio 4 on the new

aze of streaking,

Mss Conferences important

Yet effective public relations amounts to more than a

action to stimulus. So we are holding press con-

ences when we feel we have something important

0 sa

y; we issue press releases when our Council, or

Standing Committee on Law Reform has recom-

mendations to make to the Government of the day;

to we provide press lunches. Some of these lunches

are

organised so that specialist press correspondants

ean meet a solicitor with particular knowledge of their

ject. For example, the solicitor editor of Beaumont

Air Law, Peter Martin, recently talked about his

Perience in dealing with the results of flying acci-

ents

- It had an excellent effect.

°Pecialist training for

Radio

and

When it comes to the provision of solicitors to appear

radio and television programmes, we came to the

°nclusion that we should not only select them for the

Purpose, but also give them specialist training. Using

^ °sed-circuit television facilities in a commercial studio,

" the services of a professional interviewer, we put

Me 20 solicitors through their paces. A dozen of them

thought to be good enough to merit training,

t i

they have received. All are now appearing on

evision and radio programmes in their own areas of

country; we have representatives in Newcastle,

is]

Vtoouth, Norwich, Manchester, Southampton, Carl-

> Cardiff, Swindon, Leeds, Birmingham and of

U r s e

London. When a matter of importance to the

^gal profession arises, we send out a detailed note—or

f to our trained colleagues, and they are able to

ss the profession's viewpoint to audiences through-

t the country.

gjLtoturally we are also in close touch with the

U's national networks of Radio and Television. I

.tunate enough to be one of those who take part

j their programmes, but I work closely with a team

Perienced colleagues, for it is not desirable that

y one voice or face should be identified with the

, ession. In a single year we are involved in literally

, toreds of nationwide broadcasts. I cannot quantify

effectiveness of all this work, but I can tell you that

demand steadily increases, and that the members

r own Law Society are pleased with the increased

^ °unt of attention that the profession is receiving.

t h

7 0vy

n feeling is that the more involved we are with

j Mass media of television, radio and the press, the

ter the public will understand what solicitors do.

his is the real point. We are not interested in the

Sgressive "selling" of solicitors'' services; there is no

t in trying to persuade the public to accept services

a t

they do not want. We

are

interested in achieving

touch greater degree of public understanding of the

of our profession.

bonal educational programme

^ o i

addition to the activities that I have already

p bribed, we are setting out on a national educational

K^ r amme. This programme is based on a simple

l e

that the better the law is understood by the

top l

u r c o u n t r

t b

e more the role of the practis-

wyer will be appreciated. This has become the

to{?y of our public relations policy; now to the

We began by opening negotiations with publishers

for the publication of a series of books which would

explain the law in straightforward terms and would

be designed for lay people. We employed the services

of a literary agent, and the result was a new series of

paperback books under the general title

It's Your Law,

published jointly by the Law Society and Oyez Publish-

ing Limited. I took on the task of General Editor of

the series, and wrote the first book, entitled :

Before you

See a Solicitor

(6000 copies). This explains what a

solicitor does, how he is trained and how he charges for

his services. It even describes how people can solve some

of their legal problems for themselves.

Two other books in the series have now been pub-

ished :

The Police and the Law

and

The

Company

Director and the Law

(3000 copies). Both of them

have started selling well, and there are several other

titles in the pipeline, for example :

The Small Trader

and the Law, The Homeowner

and the Law,

The

Motorist and the Law, Children and the Law, Acci-

dents and the Law,

and so on. The books are designed

for adults, or at least for college students.

Equally important, we believe, is our schools educa-

tional programme. This began two years ago when we

decided to produce a set of four filmstrips explaining

the European Economic Community. The filmstrips

were designed for use in schools and colleges. The full

kit consist of the four filmstrips, each accompanied by a

gramophone record (or a cassette tape) and some teach-

ing notes. In each filmstrip a different aspect of the

Community is described, and the role of the solicitor

is explained in relation to contracts, the regulation of

monopolies, the export of materials and so on.

The European filmstrips have been successful, by

which I mean that they have received good reviews

and are selling well. Already the Law Society has

received by way of royalties a sum exceeding two-thirds

the original cost, and there is good reason to expect

that the full amount invested will have been recouped

within a reasonable time. This success has encouraged

us to go further, and we have now completed four

new filmstrips under the general title

The Law of the

Land.

The first, entitled

A Home of Your Own

deals

with buying a house. The second—together with teach-

ing notes—

Consumers and Contracts

explains shop-

pers' rights, particularly necessary following recent con-

sumer legislation. The third and fourth strips are

the Road,

and

Marriage and the Family.

They are

already selling to the schools, and we hope to extend

the series.

In addition, a simple book for schools about the

origins and the development of our law is being publi-

shed, entitled

The Living Law

and we have plans to

produce wallcharts, recorded talks and special kits with

specimen documents such as a Will, a Hire Purchase

Contract and a Tenancy Agreement. Although the

Law Society is in each case providing the "seed"

finance, our plan is to achieve by way of royalties

at least as much money as we have invested.

The Legal Aid Scheme

As I am sure you know, the British public have

benefited since 1949 from the Legal Aid Scheme. Since

1973, when the recent Legal Advice and Assistance Act

came into effect, this scheme has been enlarged so that

solicitors can be paid for giving advice and other help,

whether or not a court action is involved. Unfortuna-

tely, the rules relating to financial entitlements prevent

many people with modest incomes from receiving the

149