The Gazette 1958-61

It is hoped that some competent young solicitors, barristers or court officials who have sufficient time available will offer to write the necessary textbooks in consultation with the Society. The present position of law reporting in this country is also unsatisfactory owing to the delay in producing the official reports of cases. I understand that apart from the government the Society is the largest single contributor to the cost of publishing the law reports. Apparently there is some arrangement in existence between the Judges and the Bar Council that a copy of each judgment delivered is filed in the law library. If our Society could also obtain a copy of each judgment we would arrange to have them filed and indexed in the library, so that they would be available for reference to members of the Society during the period prior to their appearing in the official reports. The new Professional Policy Committee have been meeting regularly, but their time has been largely occupied with the details of the new Solicitors Amendment Bill, to which I have already referred, and to all the implications arising from it, and they have had very little time as a result to devote to improving the public relations of the profession with the public, which I anticipate will be their major function in the future. I understand that the Law Society of England have greatly enhanced the standing of the profession in England by suggesting necessary changes in the law and taking the initiative in promoting legislation on these lines instead of merely criticising Bills after they have been intro duced. There is certainly abundant scope for the reform of various branches of the law in this country, and I would very much like to see the Policy Com mittee or some other Committee of the Council looking into this matter when time can be found to tackle it. The tendency in both England and Scotland and to a somewhat lesser extent in Northern Ireland seems to be towards the amalgamation of firms. In Ireland we are inclined to be by nature individualistic, but I think that this tendency to amalgamate is bound to spread to this country in order to reduce the tremendous cost of overheads and to permit of greater mechanisation in the office equipment and better organisation. From the professional point of view I believe that this will be a desirable develop ment. In a partnership the accountancy must be kept accurate and up-to-date and as the law becomes more and more complex it is becoming increasingly difficult for any one solicitor to be a master of every branch of it. In a partnership the partners have much more opportunity to specialise and to keep themselves completely efficient in their own line with obvious advantage to their clients. Moreover I am convinced that however good a brain any 54

Another nefarious practice which I think it is my duty to bring to the notice of our members is what is commonly called ambulance chasing. It is, of course, a serious offence for any solicitor to tout for business in this manner, but a new refinement of this practice has recently been devised. The Council have received complaints that there is now at least one non-legal association of this kind in Ireland who send representatives to interview injured persons and suggest that they should instruct a solicitor chosen by the Association in place of the injured person's own solicitor. The activities of such Associations are clearly a menace to the profession and the Council are considering making a new regulation under the Professional Practice Regulations to prohibit any solicitor from acting for such bodies. The fact that the standard of living in the solicitor's profession has substantially fallen in comparison with the greater financial rewards to be won in business, and the further fact that the profession is considerably over-manned and that the number of practising solicitors does not yet show any sign of decreasing, should be taken into very careful con sideration by the parents of any boy or girl who is considering being apprenticed unless there is an opening available in a family firm for the boy or girl when he or she becomes qualified. The Council are much concerned regarding the absence of suitable legal textbooks dealing with the law in Ireland for the use of both practitioners and students. More than ten years ago the government agreed to make a sum of £7,500 available to the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for the publication of practitioners textbooks. No active steps have ever been taken by the Council of Law Reporting to obtain offers from professional authors and no use has been made of the government's offer to provide this money. There is a great need for up-to-date books on many branches of law in this country, but particularly on practice, and the Council through its representatives on the Law Reporting Council is pressing for some definite action. The Publications Committee has published an advertisement inviting offers from suitable persons for the publication of students' textbooks, of which there is an urgent need, at the expense of the Society. A number of offers have been received. The Council wish to obtain the widest possible response and it is important that the information should be widely circulated that the Society are willing to finance suitable publications of this nature. If our appren tices are to have the opportunity to prepare themselves properly for our own examinations it is essential that textbooks should be available for them dealing with the law as it stands to-day in Ireland.