The Gazette 1918-19

The Gazette ol the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

[JUNE, 1918

of this Society, was appointed. I am sure every member present would wish to join with me in congratulating Mr. Macnamara on his appointment, and in expressing our entire satisfaction at his selection to fill that important office. I am glad to inform you that as a result the arrears have already been cleared off, and Solicitors can now have their costs taxed without any undue delay. At the November meeting of the Society my predecessor referred to a question which affects us all very materially, viz : while Solicitors' establishment charges have increased tremendously there has been no corresponding increase in Solicitors' remun– eration. My predecessor stated he was sure the matter would be taken into consideration by the new Council which was then elected. The Council lost no time in acting upon this suggestion, and one of their first acts was to appoint a Committee to formulate proposals for a reasonable increase in Solicitors' remuneration to meet the exigencies of the times. These proposals, when approved of by the Council, were submitted to the Lord Chancellor, who summoned a meeting of the Rule Recommending Authority, of which your President is a member, to consider them. This meeting was held on the zjth February last, when I attended and laid the views of the Council before the meeting. The Rule Recommending Authority received the proposals of the Council most favourably, but suggested that certain modifications of the original proposals would be desirable, and adjourned the meeting in order that the Council might have an opportunity of considering their suggestions. The Com– mittee, having considered the suggestions made, modified their demands so far as possible to meet the views of the Rule Recommending Authority, and the recom– mendations of the Committee, having been approved of by the Council, were submitted to the Lord Chancellor. At a further meeting of the Rule Recommending Authority held on the yth day of this month, these proposals were further considered and, subject to some slight modifications, were approved of. The

I am sure there is no member of the pro– fession who did not hear with regret of the resignation of Mr. Justice Barton, whose unfailing courtesy we will always recollect with feelings of pleasure. It is not often that civil honours are con– ferred by the Government upon Solicitors, and therefore it is with special gratification I refer to the fact that Mr. John Garvey, D.L., Crown Solicitor for Mayo, and Mr. William Geoghegan, Solicitor of this City, have recently had conferred upon them the Order of the British Empire. During the period which has elapsed since our last meeting, your Council has not been idle in endeavouring to promote the interests of our profession. There are very many matters, more or less of detail, which I cannot enter into without making my speech unduly prolonged, and the particulars of which no doubt most of you have read in the GAZETTES published by the Society and circulated each month among the members. I think any of you who have read these GAZETTES will admit that the Council have not been unmindful of your interests and not altogether without some good results. I will merely refer, however, to a couple of the more important matters which have been dealt with by the Council since our last meeting. You are all aware of the great dissatis– faction which was felt, not only by the members of the profession but by the public, at the great inconvenience caused by the delay in the taxation of costs owing to the non-appointment of a third Taxing Master in the place of the late Master Culhane. Shortly after my election as President the Council took up a very firm attitude in this matter, and a strong deputation waited upon the Lord Chancellor, and pressed upon him the importance, both from the point of view of the profession and of the public, of having a third Taxing Master appointed, with the result, as you are aware, that Mr. R. A. Macnamara, an able and popular ex-President