The Gazette 1988

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1988

not been developed in depth. The primary consideration here has been to direct attention to what seems a lacuna in management direction and supervision wh i ch must be dealt with. Failure so to do is to encourage undesirable com- mercial practices and to facilitate fraud. As Professor Gower has been compelled to recognise, there are no easy solutions for investor protection w i th supervision of market practices and dealings. Equally, if t he re are to be s u p e r v i s o ry agen c i e s, t he importance of legal audit supple- me n t a ry t o a c c o u n t i ng aud it cannot be understated. The company solicitors, to no small extent, would have to take a s t a nd i n d e p e n d e nt of t he convenience of the Board and management. Once that role was recognised, there should be no need of duplication of company solicitors to check on company solicitors. A solicitor has to take personal responsibility for the correctness of his reports and conduct so that the report system wou ld itself be a discipline. The legal reports would obviously be considered by the a c c oun t i ng auditors in finalising their report on the accounts, as well as being considered, presumably at the same time, by the Board, wh i ch might want to take steps to remedy any deficiencies or manage any crises disclosed prior to the pub- lication of results to shareholders. The legal reports as such wou ld not, in t he ordinary way, be available to shareholders; they might well contain very sensitive material which, in the shareholders' own interest in the continued wellbeing of the company, should not be disclosed to customers, suppliers or competitors. On the other hand, such legal reports could we ll bring about ad j us tmen t s, qualifications and initiatives that might otherwise be overlooked. The legal reports would be available to inspectors, the Official Receiver The development of compulsory legal audit and the disciplines wh i ch this wou ld involve can only improve the standards of corporate life. It should serve to protect the position not only of shareholders but of employees, as a means of supervising management, monitor- ing accounting and rectitude. and the like. Submission

A c c o u n t i ng its emphasis on standards wh i ch d e p e nd on a s s ump t i o ns by accountants, w i t hout expert legal support, must be unsatisfactory and inadequate in isolation. This is underlined by the g r ow th of the practice of requiring auditors to tender for audit work. • aud i t, w i t h

POSITION SOUGHT by young enthusias- tic- solicitor (admitted in U .K.), LL.B., M.A., 2 years post-qual. obtained principally in Company and Taxation with substantial City practice but good all-round apprentice ex- perience. Will consider anything interesting, preferably in Dublin. Call 031-4936040. Ext. 1431. Mon-' : rl. or 031-3544094 Sat - Sun.and Evenings

Obituary - Thomas Valentine O'Connor By the death last week of Thomas Valentine O'Connor, the West of Ireland and Mayo in particular has lost one of its most well k nown personages and the legal profession one of its most respected and brilliant lawyers. Val, as he was k nown to everyone, practised as a Solicitor in Swinford and Kiltimagh for over f i f ty years. His father Patrick O'Connor founded the firm wh i ch became k nown as P. O'Connor & Son and built up a fine practice acting also as Coroner for the eastern part of the County of Mayo amd became father of the then Mayo Sessional Bar. Val, was educated at Blackrock College, Dublin, obtained his degree at University College Dublin and qualified as a Solicitor. He then returned to Swinford and joined his father in the family practice. Val soon established himself in his own right in the practice and extended and enhanced it. He followed his father as Coroner in East Mayo. While he gained much himself out of law Val also put much back into it, for sixteen years he served as an elected member of the Council of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland and in the year 1972 had the honour of being elected President of the Society - the first President of the Law Society f r om County Mayo. He served this office w i t h great distinction and w i th great personal effort of travelling long distances f r om County Mayo. Sadly over the last f ew years Val's health slowly deteriorated but he kept on practising as long as possible, always w i t h the devoted care and help of his w i fe Kay. All Val's four sons have followed in his footsteps and have qualified as Solicitors. Two have practised in Swinford w i t h him and t wo in Dublin so the tradition carries on in even greater strength but those of us who stood at the graveside and paid our last respects to " Pop" as his little granddaughter called him in prayer in the Church felt we were parting from an unusual man, greatly learned in the law and of great integrity and our sympathy goes out to Kay and their four sons and their families.

P.P.

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