The Gazette 1977

MAY-JUNE

GAZETTE

SOCIETY OF YOUNG SOLICITORS

Employers give a lecture on "The Law and Practice of the Labour Court, Redundancy Appeals Tribunal and Rights Commission", a subject which although dealing with a topic not directly associated with Law, gave a valuable insight into the workings of these machines which are of increasing importance to us. We were honoured on Saturday evening in having dinner in the same hall where the Rose of Tralee is chosen annually. The alcoholic appetites of those at one end of the hall, however, one of whom I saw knocking back his wine out of a pint glass, caused the wine to run out. This produced consternation. However, I dare say that those deprived felt the better for it next day. On Sunday morning we were treated to the sartorial elegance of Mr.Richard Woulfe, Solicitor for Limerick Corporation, who gave a talk on "The Local Government (Planning & Development) Act 1976". The lads from Limerick were there thronging the front seats in support of their man, trying to out-do their counterparts from Cork who had done the same thing the morning before. Mr. Woulfe read a very good paper on the new Enactment and on its repercussions which will be fairly widespread. His audience was afterwards served morning coffee followed immediately by lunch and was then left to wilt away homewards. The idea of having a seminar on Labour Law and associated topics was a good one. It is a subject of growing importance and one about which I knew very little before the seminar. In fact I still know very little about the topic but I hope that my colleagues whose heads may be less dense than my own may have profited by the information furnished to them at the weekend so that when I pick their brains in the future, I may have ample reward. Yours sincerely, ANON (at all costs). Note— A resume of each of the lectures will be included in the forthcoming issues of the Gazette. THE DRAFTING OF WILLS Mr. Robert Johnston delivered a most comprehensive lecture to the Society of Young Solicitors at the Ardree Hotel, on Saturday, the 6th of November, 1976. He set out and warned us of the pitfalls and difficulties into which a Solicitor could place an entire family and business through the inadequate drafting of a Will. The inadequacies of such Wills arise through the lack of appreciation and understanding by Solicitors of the following legislations:— 1. The Succession Act 1965. 2. The Capital Acquisitions Tax Act 1976.

REPORT ON SPRING SEMINAR Dear Mr. Editor,

When you asked me to write an account of the recent seminar of the Society of Young Solicitors held at Tralee, I am afraid that you made an unfortunate choice of reporter. You see, although I was indeed at the seminar, and my portly presence has been a decorative feature of many seminars over the years, my participation was more notable in the Chambers reserved for social activities in these hotels than in the lecture halls. I deny, however, that I am one of those gentlemen whose acquaintance I reluctantly acknowledge and whose boast on these occasions is that they have been attending such functions for years without ever having heard a single lecture. I do take in the occasional lecture in the course of a weekend, and quite a number of talks have derived benefit from my sharp hitting questions delivered to a quailing lecturer at the end. However, I must confess that this was the first weekend when I was seen to be seated in the lecture hall before the speaker had actually arrived on Saturday morning. This lapse was not in any respect my own fault — I should have realised that an eminent senior counsel is prevented by long practice from exercising the old vocal chords to any great effect before 11 o'clock in the morning. Jim O'Driscoll eventually got the show on the way however and his talk on "The Effect of Recent Case and Statute Law on the Common Law Employer/Employee relationship" was a stimulus to encourage us to read his very interesting lecture on the topic. At least I am assured by several people that it makes most rewarding reading and although I did, declaring "To hell with poverty", purchase a set of notes from Mr. Spendlove I am afraid they have joined the pile of literature which I religiously take from every seminar and reserve unread for those leisure moments which are so much more pleasurably occupied in a less rewarding pastime. (I am sorry to introduce such an unworthy note into the Gazette — your consolation should be that I must be the only solicitor whose performance does not quite match his good intention.) A slight lingering over the lunch meant that I was ten minutes late for the lecture on "Labour Law and Recent Labour Legislation" which included in particular a detailed study of the Unfair Dismissals Bill 1976 and the Anti- Discrimination (Employment) Bill 1975 given by Ercus Stewart, B.L., by which time the whizz kid had reached page 25 of his talk. His audience was gasping in its mental efforts to keep with the furious pace set by the lecturer and was constantly occupied in a flurry of turning pages. The lecturer is to be commended in preparing a paper that was outstandingly informative on its topic and I shall reserve six hours at some future date to read it. Exhausted by so much information, at the close of that talk many of my colleagues tottered to the bar for recuperation. I was about to slither in their wake when my eye was caught by the baleful Chairman and I slunk instead to a seat in the rear of the hall to hear John Doherty, Divisional Director of the Federated Union of

3. The Capital Gains Tax Act 1976. 4. The General Income Tax Legislation.

He covered all aspects of the drafting of Wills from testamentary capacity to Inheritance Tax considerations. 85