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11.3 At the moment that Society is raising a levy of £10 per member to embark on a pro-
gramme of institutional advertising over the coming year, in newspapers, magazines and
with a view to making known to the man in the street his need to see a Solicitor in certain
circumstances and the benefits that can accrue to him.
11.4 The visit to Scotland proved to the Committee that the steps it had taken during the
year were right, and that it is planning correctly for the future. The printers presently have
three booklets, which will be available shortly, entitled "Buying a House", "Making a Will"»
"The Incorporated Law Society of Ireland". These booklets will be available to all Solicitors
and will be circularised to institutions in Ireland. If the reaction to them is satisfactory provision
has been made to issue other publications dealing with other branches of the law of interest
to the public.
11.4 Maxwell Sweeney, the Society's public relations consultant, attends all the Committee
meetings and has given us valuable advice and constant assistance during the year. After
Christmas he embarked upon a programme of press releases to the provincial papers. As a
result of his connections, the media now appreciates that the Society will upon request make
a spokesman available to comment on matters concerning the profession, or of legal interest.
In recent months the President spoke on radio on Section 59 of the Finance Act 1974, under
which the Revenue Commissioners have taken power to obtain information from Solicitors
in certain circumstances, and a spokesman of the Society was on radio on two other occasions.
One of these occasions concerned the demand of an organisation in Cork for the appointment
of an ombudsman to deal with the legal profession and their delays. As a result of being asked
to speak on that occasion the Committee were able to counteract the mistaken impression of
the organisation in Cork, who believed that there was very little that one could do where a
genuine complaint existed against a Solicitor. The outcome of the radio programme was a
useful discussion with the Chairman of the Cork organisation.
11.5 On the latter note, one factor that worries this Committee is the poor image which the
Profession has in some quarters because of the failure of some Solicitors to answer correspon-
dence. This inevitably leads to letters of complaint to the Society, who must give the member
concerned every opportunity to explain the situation. When the Society's letters are not
answered as well, it means that some action has to be taken against the Solicitor. Unfortunately»
meantime, time has passed, and the member of the public has become exasperated and has
probably made his complaint elsewhere or in a number of places, and this, of course, leads
to the worst possible type of public relations.
11.6 The Committee has tried to keep its policy in perspective because it recognises that
public relations should probably be divided into two basic elements—internal and external—"
and whenever the need arose for communications within the Profession this was given the
importance it deserved. Nowadays there are so many pressure groups that not only must an
organisation's services be good, but also they must be seen to be good. Press releases were
handled by Maxwell Sweeney in relation to "The Kenny Report", "Wealth Tax" and the
proposed new Bill to replace the Local Government (Planning & Development) Act 1963.
Walter Beatty,
Chairman
11.7 For the future it is hoped, by good public relations and by communication on radio
and television, to remove the harmful effects of some fixed ideas which the public have about
Solicitors. It is also hoped that the public will see Solicitors as people who are prepared to
give their time and skills to the community, where the occasion or need arises, on a purely
voluntary basis. With this end in view it is hoped to organise seminars on topical subjects
which will be open to the public generally and who can apply for tickets on a first-come-first-
served basis. At the moment the Committee is considering seminars on "Freedom and the
Media" and "The Law and the Farmer". The former topic is of importance because it will
bring journalists, radio and television producers, advertising agents, etc., together with
members of the Profession, and such communications between all concerned can only be oi
benefit. Another proposal which has been agreed in principle for the year 1975 is a Law Week-
This will be a concentrated programme in schools, at civic level, and hopefully in universities,
and elsewhere, which will establish an awareness of law and the citizen. It is hoped that it wi
take place in the autumn of next year and that a suitable commemorative postage stamp wi"
be issued to coincide with its commencement.
11.8 Because of the progress which the Committee has seen during recent times, the necessity
for the Profession's total involvement in public relations cannot be stressed too often.
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