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GAZETTE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1995
background added to a good working
knowledge of constitutional law;
membership of the European Union;
and a well looked upon cultural
heritage.
I would urge the Irish legal
professions, therefore, to take steps to
promote the participation of Irish
lawyers in this new legal age. At
home, I would suggest there should be
a merging of the professions and the
opening of the courts to non-lawyers.
This liberalisation of the last bastion
of the legal closed shop would
encourage the profession to innovate.
It would send a signal to the other
professions and other legal
professionals in the EU and worldwide
that the profession in Ireland is
dynamic and innovative.
In my view, clients will continue to
seek advice from Solicitors and
Barristers in conducting Court cases
and very few clients will chose non-
lawyers to represent them. Thus the
change would have a strong impact
without causing much practical impact
to the livelihood of individual
practitioners.
Barristers have not lost out to
Solicitors since the latter were granted
the right of audience before all Irish
courts and it is unlikely that the need
for court specialisation would diminish
in a unified profession.
Abroad I would suggest that the
Government, through the various
agencies that support Ireland as a
financial and industrial location,
promote the use of Irish legal services
in Europe and globally. This would be
better facilitated through a merged
profession. Ireland could become a
centre for legal research and provide
backup to the larger firms in
expensive cities such as London and
New York. As demand for services in
Ireland begins to flow, high value
added skills would begin to
accumulate here. Peripherality is not a
problem if you are recognised as
having the necessary skill.
The pool of legal skills in Ireland is
vast. It is under utilised. The chance to
exercise the rights that membership of
the Union gives Irish lawyers should
be grabbed, not dreamed about.
These comments arise from a review of
the law on the freedom for Irish
lawyers to provide services in the EU.
They were made at a recent
conference
on "New Opportunities
for
Lawyers",
sponsored
by I.C.E.L. and held in
Dublin on 28 May, 1994.
*Bernard O'Connor is a Solicitor
with
Stanbrook
and Hooper,
European
Community Lawyers,
Brussels.
•
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