The Gazette 1974

»dered that the College of Law should be the chosen

'Nstrument. This minority felt that the solicitors' branch

the profession, having in recent years been prepared

fa pay articled clerks, would instead accept the idea

subsidising th College of Law by means of a levy,

a n

d at a recent National Conference such a view did

^Ppear to receive support. It was considered by the

yrmrod Committee that Government assistance for the

Important task of training the legal profession should be

farthcoming either directly or through the University

^rants' Committee. It has, however, become clear

faat the Government will accept no financial respon-

sibility whatever for the implementation of the Orm-

°d proposals.

The Education and Training Committee considered

faat in these circumstances they must, before coming

? any decision, investigate the possibility of Universi-

ties and Polytechnics running courses in conjunction

H h the College of Law or indeed taking over the

»tire running of the courses as recommended by the

Majority of the Orfnrod Committee, and consultations

fa°k place to explore these possibilities. There is no

.University which has, as yet, been able to commit

elf, though some Polytechnics have expressed an

'nterest in running Vocational Courses. The task of

j^nning the courses entirely ourselves through the Col-

of Law would be a big task. I believed, at the

Jfae of the Ormrod Report, and I still believe now,

Nat the College of Law should, if possible, conduct

se courses so that The Law Society would, through

Ne College of Law, be in control of the content of the

purses and set the standard of entry to our profession,

u t

this may not be possible, and arrangements with

°nie Universities may prove possible.

In his Presidential Address to our Annual Con-

((

^ence at Harrogate in 1957, Sir Ian Yeaman said—

* ne first obligation of our profession is to secure

faccessors who will carry on the traditions of the past

in the future provide the public with the legal

ffvices which they will increasingly want". He was

.Nen advocating the abolition of premiums on entry

•nto articles and the payment of articled clerks. In the

Ranged circumstances of the present, it had seemed

° nie that the plea which Sir Ian then made and which

a s

accepted by the profession, should now be applied

a different form of payment; for solicitors would no

Nnger, if the proposed new system of training came

t , have any articled clerks to pay.

residential address on Ormrod Committee

p ^oon after the beginning of his year of office, a

resident of The Law Society is required to deliver his

Naugural Address to our National Conference. He may

Peak on a variety of topics—often of national or inter-

actional concern. When my turn came, however, last

etober, I felt that there was to me but one compelling

°P

> and that I should put before the profession the

Proposals of the Ormrod Committee, the considera-

ns behind those proposals, and the difficulties and

Pense of their implementation, and ask the profession

their views. I felt that without their support we

>°

ld not go ahead. In the result the Council of The

v Society issued a Consultative Document to every

mber of the profession. They have since organised

ries of 12 meetings throughout the country and we

ave

recently received the views of our members

trough their Local Law Societies. I am bound to say

a t

I am disappointed at the sparse attendance, both

fae meetings which we arranged and at the meetings

of Local Law Societies. Nevertheless I think that a

general pattern of views has emerged of which we must

take note. The profession it seems are generally in

favour of the concept of a practical course, but as an

adjunct to articles. They wish there to be also a fairly

stiff test of knowledge of substantive law. They do

not appear to cavil at making some contribution to

the education of the future generation of lawyers, but

wihin limits.

All this we shall have to consider and I cannot

now tell you what the answer will be. For myself I

hope that we shall be able to institute a practical

course which will raise the standards of all new

entrants. This could be in conjunction with some Uni-

versities or Polytechnics, but I do not consider that we

should ever contemplate handing over the entire con-

trol of practical courses to such institutions. Our own

College of Law must, in my view, be engaged up to

the limit of its capacity, so that The Law Society

through its own College may set the standard to which

other courses should conform.

One other thing I told the National Conference at

Torquay, I was impressed to read the other day some-

thing of the history of the formation of The Law

Society. It was ot a meeting held at Serle's Coffee

House on 29 March 1825 (when it was decided to

appoint a Committee to draw up a scheme for sub-

mission to a General Meeting of Subscribers) that The

Law Society owe" its existence. This General Meeting

was held quite soon afterwards on 2 June 1825 and it

was on that date that our Society was born.

What impressed me was that at this very first meeting

when there were only 223 members, and the entire

profession consisted of 2400 practising attorneys, it was

resolved to purchase land for the erection of a suitable

building for the Society and to raise £50,000 for this

purpose. The money was raised and the first part of

The Law Society's Hall, namely the central portion

including the Entrance Hall and Reaidng Room, was

actually opened in 1831. I am told by a banker friend

that the equivalent value of £50,000 at that date is

at least £400,000 today, so that one can appreciate

having regard to their number, the immense en-

thusiasm of our predecessors at their very first meeting.

I may add they subsequently raised further monies for

the extension of The Law Society's Hall and we must

surely value the heritage which our predecessors left

us. Have we a similar enthusiasm to theirs? Might our

difficulties be in part met by a fund raised in cele-

bration of the Society's 150 years of existence in the

year 1975?

Education and training continuous

So far I have talked mainly of initial training before

qualification, but education and training must continue

throughout professional life. If we have any initial

training sought to lay a foundation we must erect a

building and maintain it. Much of our learning will

come from our experience and from our own reading

and studying, but this takes time and there can be no

doubt of the need for courses to assist the profession in

acquainting themselves with the new laws which are

constantly introduced. There is need also, I suggest, for

courses in which we can learn of particular branches

of law in which we may become involved. What is

called "Welfare Law" is a case in point. We require

also to learn of other professions and of businesses, so

that we may understand their language and how they

help us and we them. Such courses are increasing and

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