The Gazette 1995

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1995

'Solicitors - Perhaps the Best Regulated of all Professions'

was reported that since 1988, the Law Society of England and Wales has experienced an average rise of 14 per cent in the number of claims against i solicitors firms. Mr. Jenkins stated that "in the US, it is becoming commonplace for professional partnerships to change their status to that of a professional corporation either a limited liability company or a limited liability partnership, to protect the partners assets". The conference was also covered in the Irish Press under the heading "Warning on accountancy insurability." The Irish Independent coverage on 3 December ' was contained in an article headed "Soaring Claims of Negligence put accountants under the cosh". The article stated "The extraordinary rise in professional negligence claims will force leading accountancy partnerships to form limited liability companies to protect themselves, a Dublin seminar was told yesterday." The above statement was made in the Sunday Tribune , 4 December 1994 by : Christopher McKevitt. The article examines the safeguards provided | by the different professions: ! auctioneers, solicitors, accountants, insurance intermediaries, and | stockbrokers. i i The article states: "Solicitors: These are perhaps the best regulated of all." The article referred to the fact that the Law Society operates a compensation scheme in the event of fraud and that although not compulsory, a large number of solicitors have professional indemnity insurance. "The article also states that the Solicitor's Roll can be examined by any member of the public and that solicitors must apply [ each year to renew their Practising I Certificate and that they must supply the Law Society with an accountants certificate to verify that their accounts have been fully audited." Solicitors: "perhaps the best regulated of all professions"

Election of New Officers

A similar article was written by Gail Seekamp in the Sunday Business Post on 4 December 1994. She referred to the fact that the IPAV's compensation fund is limited in scope. It reimburses people who lose cash as part of a contract but only if it was paid as part of a contract for a particular property purchase. A table outlined different forms of protection offered by the different professions. It stated that the compensation fund for solicitors parameters are quite broad, and include dishonesty. It stated that separate client accounts are mandatory and that S.26 of the Solicitors (Amendment) act 1994 empowers the Law Society to make professional indemnity insurance mandatory. The Sunday Business Post printed a report on the insurance industry on 4 December 1994. The article in a section headed "Damages and Claims" stated: "in the non-life or general insurance business there is only one big problem as far as customers and insurers are concerned. It is the cost of insurance (as the customer sees it) or the cost of claims (as it appears to the underwriter.) The article continues "The problem appears insurmountable, utterly insoluble. The jury system is gone; the size of legal teams has been reduced; the two senior counsels requirement has disappeared. These, it was said at the time the measures were introduced, would prove to be key reforms and lead to a reduction in premium. They have not." Report on the Insurance Industry

The election of President Patrick Glynn, Senior Vice Andrew Smyth and Junior Vice Tony Ensor was covered in the Irish Times, Irish Press and Cork Examiner, Sunday Business Post and Sunday Tribune. The Limerick Leader published an interview with Paddy Glynn on 3 December 1994. In the article he dealt with the three roles of the Society: discipline, education 1 and representation on behalf of the country's solicitors. As regards complaints, he said that the number of complaints had to be seen in light of the millions of cases that solicitors ; undertake. He also said "we are a trade union type organisation representing our members, looking for better conditions on their behalf, and as such we make representations, as in the case of the recently passed Solicitors Bill". The appointment of Paddy Glynn was also featured in the Clare Champion and he did an interview with Clare FM. The appointment of Tony Ensor, Junior Vice was covered in the Wexford People , the Gorey Guardian and the Enniscorthy Echo. A conference on professional negligence organised by Matheson Ormsby Prentice attracted a lot of media coverage. The Irish Times published an article headed "Professional Negligence Claims Revive Limited Liability Debate" on 3 December 1994. The article stated "solicitors, accountants and other professionals will have to consider seriously operating with some form of limited liability because of rising professional negligence claims against them, an international expert in professional negligence law told a conference in Dublin yesterday." The conference was addressed by Mr. Ian Jenkins, Senior Partner with London Solicitors, Baslow Lyde & Gilbert. It | Conference on Professional Negligence

Northern Ireland Students Claim Discrimination

In an article headed "Queen's students claims bias" on 6 December, the Irish Times stated "law students at Queen's University, Belfast claimed in the High Court yesterday that they were

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