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GAZETTE
N E W S
MAY/JUNE
1995
International Client Counselling
Competition
Congratulations are due to Valerie
Kennedy (36th professional course) and
Mairin Stronge (37th professional
Course). Valerie Kennedy and Mairin
Stronge came second place in the
International Client Counselling
Competition which was held in Florida
from 30 March to 2 April. They
travelled to Florida with Bernie Walsh,
Law School tutor to participate in the
competition. They would like to thank
their respective offices for allowing
them the time off to travel to the
competition. Valerie is an apprentice in
English & Associates, Fermoy, Co.
Cork and Mairin is an apprentice with
Walker O'Carroll & Hogan, Athlone,
Co. Westmeath.
Preparing for the International
Client Counselling
Competition
(from left): Valerie
Kennedy,
competitor;
Bernie Walsh, tutor; Mairin Stronge, competitor and James MacGuill,
Chairman,
Education Advisory
Committee.
There were eight different countries
competing in this competition. The
competition gave the law school
representative an opportunity to
exchange views with law schools from
other jurisdictions. The information and
materials made available by other law
schools should greatly facilitate
improvement of our own
communication skills module on the
Professional Course.
Until quite recently the focus of
solicitors' education has been on
learning the law, researching cases and
statutes, understanding legal principles,
analysing hypothetical legal problems,
and arguing for or against rather
abstract propositions. On the whole,
little attention has been paid to learning
about clients. Clients however, are the
raison d'etre
for most solicitors and
understanding the needs of clients must
be an essential element of the solicitors'
portfolio of skills.
In the last few years, law schools have
begun to appreciate that it is possible to
teach substantive law in a more
practical context and have introduced
into the curriculum what in the United
States is called
client counselling
and in
England is called
client interviewing.
The emphasis in such courses will vary,
but the essential purpose is to enable the
aspiring lawyer to see the client as a
person with all the problems, anxieties,
prejudices and concerns that clients
have, rather than as a one dimensional
hypothetical problem in respect of
which they are asked to advise. The
focus of the skill is to elicit information,
or facts, from a "client" in an
appropriate manner, being aware of the
nuances of behaviour in an interview, to
identify the apparent legal issues and to
develop an appropriate strategy for
further action.
Alongside these changes in legal
education have developed a number of
client interviewing/counselling
competitions. The impetus for the
competitions in the U.S. originally came
from Professor Louis M. Brown of the
University of Southern California in
1969.
"The structure of our own Professional
Course has been altered considerably to
take into account the need to enhance
communication skills. On recent
professional courses the time given over
to communication skills has been
increased to reflect a vital need for this
skill for practising solicitors", says
James MacGuill, Chairman of the
Education Advisory Committee.
Interviewing competitions are held on
the professional courses. As winners of
these competitions, Valerie and Mairin
were chosen to represent Ireland in the
International Client Counselling Com-
petition. The purpose and the format of
the Competition is indeed to encourage
law students to appreciate the need for
effective interviewing techniques and
become aware of a variety of different
client dynamics including, for example,
dealing with clients who may be
emotionally demanding, or who
introduce ethical dilemmas as well as
having legal problems.
Special thanks are due to James
MacGuill, Brian Sheridan and all the
Law Society staff who helped in the
preparation for the competition.
Assistance was also provided by last
years' competitors Phil O'Hare and
Andrew Coonan. During his speech at
the parchment ceremony on 7 April our
President Patrick Glynn congratulated
Valerie and Mairin. "It goes to prove
that the students going through our
Professional Course can hold their
own on the international stage"
he said.
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