The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

p R A

T i

M A N A G E M E N T

Pract ice

Management

Commi t tee

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1995

The function of the Committee is to

provide information and assistance in

relation to all aspects of Practice

Management. The Committee aims to

assist the individual Solicitor in

providing a better and more efficient

service to the client. It is hoped that

the client in turn will appreciate the

increased level of service thereby

increasing customer satisfaction.

The Committee has set itself a number

of goals and objectives for 1995 and

the Committee would very much

welcome comments or suggestions

from the Profession on any aspect

relating to its work.

In 1994, the Committee established

Practice Management Notes which are

issued to the profession on a regular

basis. These are designed to cover

different aspects of legal practice in

an easy and readable form. The

Committee would like to hear from

practitioners as to what their

impressions are and any suggestions

that they might have for the future.

It is the view of the Committee that

Practice Management should occupy a

central role in the education syllabus

for Solicitors. Discussions are taking

place with the Education Committee

and the Education Advisory

Committee to see best how this can be

achieved.

The Committee has been instrumental

in running "Setting up in Practice

Seminars". These are a valuable help

to new solicitors starting out in

practice on their own.

Substantial progress has been made

with the Irish Management Institute in

preparing and formulating a course

which would be of assistance to the

larger practice. This is a new

innovation for the Law Society

and it

will be an interesting and

exciting opportunity to assess

how the management skills of

Solicitors can be applied to the

commercial area.

A number of solicitor's firms have

already attained the Q Mark and a

seminar held on the topic in 1994 was

much appreciated by the participants.

A further seminar on the topic will be

provided in 1995.

There are a number of management

tapes and videos which are available

in the non legal sector. They are

useful in so far as they assist learning

in an "easy" way. The Committee is

investigating the provision of these

tapes and cassettes and a selection

will be made available to the

profession during 1995.

Every office should have its own

office manual which will assist the

office in regulating its own procedures

rather than dealing with issues in a

haphazard way. The Committee are

presently reviewing a precedent

manual and will have more

information on this later in the year.

The passing of the Solicitor's Act

brings obligations and some

opportunities to the profession. Over

the coming months the profession will

be circularised with a substantial

amount of material on different

aspects of the Solicitor's Act. It is

hoped that the result will be the

provision of a clear and unambiguous

business relationship between solicitor

and client. The client will be aware

from the very start of the nature and

extent of the business relationship

with the Solicitor.

The committee intends to make use of

the Gazette each month to give the

profession an up date on its activities.

The contribution will be written by

different members of the Committee

who will be able to give their

own perspective on the Committee's

work.

Philip Joyce

Chairman Practice

Management

Committee

•

Doyle Court Reporters

Principal:

Áine O'Farrell

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