The Gazette 1977

GAZETTE

OCTOBER 1977

(ii) Superannuation Scheme: The Finance Committee report which follows, details the satisfactory state of the Fund which is now in excess of £400,000. A further promotional drive on behalf of the scheme will be made next February/March. (iii) Company Formation: The demands on the service continue to increase, which in itself is an indication that the service is appreciated by members. At the time of going to press, a special Committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Maurice Curran, is reviewing this and related services, including town agency, with a view to improving and expanding the facilities for members. (iv) Saleable Forms & Publications: The Publications Committee, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Walter Beatty has detailed its programme later in the report. Otherwise, through its various Committees the Council is endeavouring to standardise forms and produce them for members at a minimum cost. (v) Employment Register: This year efforts were made to re-activate and expand the Society's Employment Register. It is satisfactory to record that the needs of several firms which had difficulty in recruiting staff, were met. It is hoped that employers and solicitors seeking appointments will avail of the service. 3.1 The responsibility of the Registrar's Committee is to investigate complaints brought against Solicitors, and in appropriate cases, to take the necessary action to ensure compliance by Solicitors with their statutory and ethical obligations both to their clients and fellow members of their profession. 3.2 The Interview Board, established in January 1976, has continued to ease the burden of work on the full Registrar's Committee. While this less informal enquiry into complaints appears to be preferred by members of the Profession who are required to attend before it, it must be emphasised that only selected matters are in the first instance referred to the Interview Board. More serious matters continue to be referred initially to the full Registrar's Committee. 3.3 The type of complaints received by the Society maintained their customary form, the largest single complaint being of the failure of Solicitors to deal with their clients' business either with reasonable expedition or, in some cases, at all. Unhappily, the number of complaints showed a not insubstantial increase in the period under review over the corresponding period in 1976. 3.4 Once again, it is noted that a very high proportion of the total complaints received were against sole practitioners or firms with a single principal. Such a Solicitor is expected by his clients to maintain a high degree of competence and expertise in every facet of his practice, something that is becoming, if not impossible, certainly extremely difficult due to the ever increasing complexity of our Laws today. I believe enlargement or amalgamation of existing firms would permit a degree of specialisation that would greatly reduce these difficulties and consequently the number of complaints by members of the public reaching the Society. 3.5 In the period from January to September 1977, the Interview Board dealt with 167 items. A further 164 items were dealt with by the Registrar's Committee, many of these having been referred from the Interview Board. Some 40 cases were referred by the Registrar's Committee to the Disciplinary Committee for consideration. Naturally, not all of these cases related to different Solicitors and some of the items were simply the same cases being followed up on a later occasion. 3.6 In view of the failure of many Solicitors against whom complaints are made to answer correspondence from the Society and to attend before the Interview Board or Registrar's Committee when called upon so to do, it may be helpful to state that the Interview Board and Registrar's Committee consider it is part of their function to offer where reasonably possible assistance to the Solicitor complained against in an effort to resolve his problem. Given the co-operation of the Solicitor complained against, many of the complaints reaching the Society could be resolved in their early stages and the necessity of the Solicitor attending before the Interview Board or Registrar's Committee (often at considerable personal inconvenience) thereby avoided. 3.7 Steps were taken during the year to reduce the number of Accountants' Certificates currently in arrears. Thanks to the co-operation received from the members of the Profession, these efforts have met with considerable degree of success. The Committee is confident that the Profession as a whole appreciates the importance of ensuring compliance with the Solicitors Accounts Regulations and will continue to co-operate with the Society in its efforts to ensure that all Members' Accountants' Certificates are brought up to date and so maintained. 3.8 Up to September 1977, the Society's Accountant, Mr. P. J. Connolly, carried out some nine new investigations of Solicitors' Clients' accounts. Many other visits were paid by him to Solicitors' Offices following up previous investigations carried out by him, and in each case, reports were submitted by him to the Registrar's Committee which, where necessary, took appropriate action. The Committee is very appreciative of the thorough nature of Mr. Connolly's investigations and reports and would express their gratitude to him for all his assistance throughout the year. 3.9 On behalf of the Committee, I would like to express our thanks also to the Director General (who is also a member of the Interview Board), Mr. Fintan Burke and Miss Margaret Casey, and indeed all the other members of the Secretariat for their assistance and guidance and unfailing courtesy to us all throughout the year. 3.10 Finally, may I express my personal thanks to all of my colleagues on the Committee for their unending patience with and support of me as Chairman, and in particular, to Mr. Tom Shaw who attended the monthly Meetings of the Interview Board as well as those of the Registrar's Committee.

REGISTRAR'S COMMITTEE

David R. Pigot,

Chairman

William B. Allen Donal G. Binchy Anthony E. Collins Carmel Killeen William D. McEvoy Patrick F. O'Donnell Michael V. O'Mahony Thomas D. Shaw Andrew F. Smyth

David R. Pigot, Chairman

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