The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1995

Sol icitors Advert ising and the

'Negl igence Cul ture'

Small Firms Association and Law

Society Clash on Injury Claims

An article with the above headline

was published in the

Irish

Independent

on the 28 July, 1995. The

Small Firms Association ( S . F . A .) had

issued a statement claiming that the so

called 'no foal no fee' service offered

by solicitors was responsible for

engendering a compensation culture in

the economy and calling for a

Government inquiry into solicitors

activities. However, the Law Society

hit back stating that the problem was

not a 'compo-culture' but a

'negligence culture'. Instead of

attacking solicitors who bring claims

for injured clients, the Law Society

said that the S . F . A. should address its

attention to the cause of the problem

which is the unacceptably high level

of accidents at work in this country.

The Society pointed out that no less

than 11,70Q people were reported by

the Department of Society Welfare of

having been awarded injury benefit

1993 and that fatal injury in the work

place in Ireland that year was three

times higher than in the U . K. These

figures were taken from the Law

Society press release which was

issued on the 27 July, 1995. The

article quoted the Director General of

the Law Society,

Ken Murphy

saying

that criticism of the 'no foal no fee'

system was misplaced because

without a proper civil aid system, it is

the only way 'impecunious' clients

can have access to justice.

Solicitors and Advertising

The 15 August, 1995 issue of the

Irish

Independent

carried an article headed

"Solicitors Face Clamp Down On

Chasing Clients". This article resulted

from an interview with

Pat

O'Connor,

member of the Law Society Council.

It stated that curbs on advertising by

solicitors are being considered as a

means of applying the 'brakes on

ambulance chasers' within the

profession. It recorded that the issue is

being examined by a committee under

the Chairmanship of Cork State

Solicitor,

Barry Galvin

and that the

new guidelines are being considered

which would prevent solicitors

actually seeking out personal injury

victims and encouraging them to sue.

It was now time for review of the

1988 regulations.

As a result of the article in the

Irish

Independent

on the 15 August R T E

Television requested an interview

with

Ken Murphy,

Director General of

the Law Society. In preparation for

this, a short statement was issued to

R T E clarifying the issue of solicitors

and advertising. It was stated by the

Society that there is a review currently

being conducted by the Society of its'

advertising regulations, and that it is

being undertaken in the light both of

seven years experience of the existing

advertising regulations and the recent

Solicitor's Act. In addition, there has

been some concern about so-called

'ambulance chasing' type advertising

undertaken by a small minority of

solicitors. The Society said that the

question is one of striking a balance

between making the public aware of

the services provided by solicitors on

the one hand and on the other hand

protecting the public from advertising

which maybe a misleading or in bad

taste. A televised interview with

Ken

Murphy

was featured on the R T E

'Six-

One' News

and the

9.00pm News.

'Morning Ireland'

Ken Murphy

was interviewed on

Morning Ireland

on 16 August, 1995.

He confirmed that a review of the

advertising regulations by the Law

Society was taking place. He pointed

out that the current advertising rules

which have been in existence for

seven years and needed to be

reviewed in the light of experience.

He said "we intend to have stronger

rules to deal with the forms of

advertising that we already consider to

be objectionable". He pointed out that

the new regulation may require

additional text to provide clarification

when use is made of terms equivalent

to 'no foal no fee'. He did insist,

however, that the Society viewed

taking cases on a 'no foal no fee'

basis as both perfectly legitimate and

necessary in the context of a country

which does not have civil legal aid

which would give access to justice to

people with plaintiff personal injury

actions. The interviewer,

John

Murray,

asked "isn't the 'no foal no

fee' system anyway encouraging the

whole compensation culture that

applies here?"

Ken Murphy

replied

"We think that in fact what we have in

this country is a negligence culture

rather than a compensation culture

and that the real issue to be addressed

is the level of accidents that take place

and the severity of injuries. It really is

blaming the messenger if people are

going to attack solicitors for simply

doing their j ob of ensuring that people

who have been injured through the

negligence of others got adequately

compensated".

** We think that, in fact, what we

have in this country is a negligence

culture rather than a compensation

culture and that the real issue to be

addressed is the level of accidents

that take place and the severity of

injuries. It really is blaming the

messenger if people are going to

attack solicitors for simply doing

their job. "

- Ken Murphy, Morning Ireland,

16 August 1995.

'Negligence Culture'

In the

Irish Independent

on the 17

August, 1995 I B EC hit back at claims

by the Law Society that there is a

'negligence culture' in Ireland. The

article stated that " L aw Society head

Ken Murphy

last night stood by his

claim that there is a negligence culture

here". Employers would not settle

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