The Gazette 1988

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1988

INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Annual General Meeting of Ireland was held at Blackhall 17 November, 1988. Before the formal business opened the President, Mr. Thomas D. Shaw w e l c omed t he memb e rs and, especially Mr. John Jennings, President-elect of the Canadian Bar Association, and Mrs. Jennings. Having signed the Minutes of the Half-Yearly General Meeting, held in Cork on May 7th, 1988, the audited a c c o u n ts for t he year ended December 31st last were reviewed. Mr. Brendan Garvan was alarmed w i t h the results as reflected in the Income & Expenditure Account. The actual ou t come for the year was a deficit of £15,167, compared w i th a surplus of £ 2 9 , 6 33 for the previous year. He objected to the inclusion of the "Wr i te Back of Reserve" £36 , 058, wh i ch gave a s u r p l us of £ 2 0 , 8 9 1, t h e r e by disguising the real deficit. He added, however, that the Society's Reserves in the Balance Sheet appeared adequate. In the light of the activities for the year ended December 31st, 1987, the Society wou ld have to think seriously about where it was going, having regard to inflation, as the figures continue to be above the general level. The return on capital employed was going d own year by year culminating in a negative return for the current year. At the same time, the cost of the Practising Ce r t i f i c a te was in- creasing at a rate beyond the rate of inflation and the Soc i e t y 's continuing rising costs wou ld give rise to f u r t h er i n c r e a s es in Practising Certificate fees. Mr. Garvan urged a cost reduction exercise i mme d i a t e ly and t he reduction of overheads by 5%. Committee Chairman's Reply The Chairman of the Finance C omm i t t e e, Mr. Er nest J. Ma r ge t s on, replying to po i n ts raised by Mr. Garvan, said that there had been increased outlay on

Advertising Ballot The ballot on Ad v e r t i s i ng by Solicitors showed a total valid poll of 1,976 (with 54 spoiled votes) and the following results:

the Incorporated Law Society of Place, Dublin 7, on Thursday, extra staff for key areas, greater c omm i t me nt in the c ommu n i- cations area, and in the institutional advertising project. Dealing w i th the return on capital employed, Mr. Ma r g e t s on q u e s t i o n ed t he relevance of this point, wh i ch had been raised by Mr. Garvan, as the Society is not a commercial trading concern and operates w i t h in the income available f r om fees and miscellaneous activities. On the matter of the Practising Certificate fee level, Mr. Margetson referred to the table of fees payable over recent years wh i ch shows an increase in the total contribution level from £ 4 86 in 1984 to £ 5 45 in 1988, 12% in four years. Every effort is made to control expense and he cited the present budget review as a case in point; every item of income and expenditure is examined in detail for justification. A point raised by Mr. Garvan on "Wr i te Back of Reserve" in the Income and Expenditure Account is being given a wr i t t en reply as the answer involves a previous year's accounts. The President expressed his support for the statements made by Mr. Margetson and assured the Meeting that, from his first hand experience, particularly during this year, the finance of the Society is being properly and efficiently man- aged. The adoption of the Accounts was agreed unanimously on the proposal of Mr. Patrick O'Connor and Mr. Raymond Monahan. Appo i n tment of Messrs. Cooper and Lybrand as Aud i t o rs was unanimously agreed on the motion of Mr. Ernest Margetson, seconded by Mr. Frank Daly. Mr. Margetson we l comed Mr. R. Lane and Mr. K. Byrne of Cooper & Lybrand and thanked t hem for their services to the Society, especially in settling the tax position wh i ch was under query for several years.

Solicitors should be entitled to advertise Solicitors should not be entitled to advertise

1,013

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Reports from Committees Dealing w i t h the Report of the Council the President expressed thanks on behalf of the members to t he P r o f e s s i o n al Pu r po s es Comm i t t ee for t he ir wo rk in producing the Guide to Professional Conduct of Solicitors in Ireland. On the Report of the Education Committee Mr. Brendan Garvan r e f e r r ed t o t he t h r e at f r om University Professors to the effect that they wou ld w i t hd r aw their services f r om the conduct of Law Society examinations. In his view the Society should be completely independent of the Universities in the running of the Law School. When discussing the Report of the Younger Members' Committee, t he P r es i dent w e l c o m ed Ms. Miriam Reynolds, and congrat- ulated her on her Election to the Council. He cong r a t u l a t ed Mr. Cullen and the Costs Committee on the publication of the Costs Book, wh i ch wou ld be of considerable value to p r ac t i t i one r s. It rep- resented a tremendous voluntary effort on the part of Mr. Cullen and his Commi t t ee colleagues wh i ch had been commenced when Mr. Cullen was President of the Society some three years earlier. The President's remarks were received with applause. The adoption of the Council Report was proposed by Mr. D. R. Pigot, seconded by Mr. Stephen Maher and agreed unanimously. The New Council The Scrutineers of the Ballot for election to the Council made the following report:

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