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GAZETTE
MAY-JUNE
SOCIETY OF YOUNG SOLICITORS
REPORT ON SPRING SEMINAR
Dear Mr. Editor,
When you asked me to write an account of the recent
seminar of the Society of Young Solicitors held at Tralee,
I am afraid that you made an unfortunate choice of
reporter. You see, although I was indeed at the seminar,
and my portly presence has been a decorative feature of
many seminars over the years, my participation was more
notable in the Chambers reserved for social activities in
these hotels than in the lecture halls. I deny, however, that
I am one of those gentlemen whose acquaintance I
reluctantly acknowledge and whose boast on these
occasions is that they have been attending such functions
for years without ever having heard a single lecture. I do
take in the occasional lecture in the course of a weekend,
and quite a number of talks have derived benefit from my
sharp hitting questions delivered to a quailing lecturer at
the end.
However, I must confess that this was the first
weekend when I was seen to be seated in the lecture hall
before the speaker had actually arrived on Saturday
morning. This lapse was not in any respect my own fault
— I should have realised that an eminent senior counsel
is prevented by long practice from exercising the old vocal
chords to any great effect before 11 o'clock in the morning.
Jim O'Driscoll eventually got the show on the way
however and his talk on "The Effect of Recent Case and
Statute Law on the Common Law Employer/Employee
relationship" was a stimulus to encourage us to read his
very interesting lecture on the topic. At least I am assured
by several people that it makes most rewarding reading
and although I did, declaring "To hell with poverty",
purchase a set of notes from Mr. Spendlove I am afraid
they have joined the pile of literature which I religiously
take from every seminar and reserve unread for those
leisure moments which are so much more pleasurably
occupied in a less rewarding pastime. (I am sorry to
introduce such an unworthy note into the Gazette — your
consolation should be that I must be the only solicitor
whose performance does not quite match his good
intention.)
A slight lingering over the lunch meant that I was ten
minutes late for the lecture on "Labour Law and Recent
Labour Legislation" which included in particular a
detailed study of the Unfair Dismissals Bill 1976 and the
Anti- Discrimination (Employment) Bill 1975 given by
Ercus Stewart, B.L., by which time the whizz kid had
reached page 25 of his talk. His audience was gasping in
its mental efforts to keep with the furious pace set by the
lecturer and was constantly occupied in a flurry of turning
pages. The lecturer is to be commended in preparing a
paper that was outstandingly informative on its topic and
I shall reserve six hours at some future date to read it.
Exhausted by so much information, at the close of that
talk many of my colleagues tottered to the bar for
recuperation. I was about to slither in their wake when my
eye was caught by the baleful Chairman and I slunk
instead to a seat in the rear of the hall to hear John
Doherty, Divisional Director of the Federated Union of
Employers give a lecture on "The Law and Practice of the
Labour Court, Redundancy Appeals Tribunal and Rights
Commission", a subject which although dealing with a
topic not directly associated with Law, gave a valuable
insight into the workings of these machines which are of
increasing importance to us.
We were honoured on Saturday evening in having
dinner in the same hall where the Rose of Tralee is chosen
annually. The alcoholic appetites of those at one end of
the hall, however, one of whom I saw knocking back his
wine out of a pint glass, caused the wine to run out. This
produced consternation. However, I dare say that those
deprived felt the better for it next day.
On Sunday morning we were treated to the sartorial
elegance of Mr.Richard Woulfe, Solicitor for Limerick
Corporation, who gave a talk on "The Local Government
(Planning & Development) Act 1976". The lads from
Limerick were there thronging the front seats in support
of their man, trying to out-do their counterparts from
Cork who had done the same thing the morning before.
Mr. Woulfe read a very good paper on the new
Enactment and on its repercussions which will be fairly
widespread. His audience was afterwards served morning
coffee followed immediately by lunch and was then left to
wilt away homewards.
The idea of having a seminar on Labour Law and
associated topics was a good one. It is a subject of
growing importance and one about which I knew very
little before the seminar. In fact I still know very little
about the topic but I hope that my colleagues whose
heads may be less dense than my own may have profited
by the information furnished to them at the weekend so
that when I pick their brains in the future, I may have
ample reward.
Yours sincerely,
ANON (at all costs).
Note—
A resume of each of the lectures will be included
in the forthcoming issues of the Gazette.
THE DRAFTING OF WILLS
Mr. Robert Johnston delivered a most comprehensive
lecture to the Society of Young Solicitors at the Ardree
Hotel, on Saturday, the 6th of November, 1976. He set
out and warned us of the pitfalls and difficulties into
which a Solicitor could place an entire family and
business through the inadequate drafting of a Will. The
inadequacies of such Wills arise through the lack of
appreciation and understanding by Solicitors of the
following legislations:—
1. The Succession Act 1965.
2. The Capital Acquisitions Tax Act 1976.
3. The Capital Gains Tax Act 1976.
4. The General Income Tax Legislation.
He covered all aspects of the drafting of Wills from
testamentary capacity to Inheritance Tax considerations.
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