The Gazette 1946-49

of the profession inviting subscriptions to the Attorney's Association for the benefit of widows and families of professional men. How this appeal was answered and how long the Association continued, history does not record, but in the year 1863 the present Solicitors' Benevolent Association was founded. The objects of the Society are to relieve members of the solicitors' profession in Ireland who may have become poor or necessitous, to relieve the poor and necessitous families of deceased solicitors, and in special cases to give relief to the poor and necessitous parents or collateral relations of deceased solicitors. I wish to emphasise that the activities of the Association arc not confined to the area of jurisdiction of this Society but extend to the whole of Ireland. There are approximately i,800 solicitors in the thirty-two counties of Ireland, of whom less than 700 are members of the Solicitors' Benevolent Association. The subscription is the modest sum of £i is. od. per annum, and as my last appeal during my year of office as President, 1 wish to ask each non-member to join the Association. No one knows the day or the hour in which he may be struck down either by bodily infirmity or death, and by con tributing this modest sum each year a solicitor can help the Association to provide some measure of relief for those cases of hardship which happen in every walk of life. The annual report also contains a form of bequest in favour of the Association, which I would commend to the attention of solicitors. I earnestly hope that my appeal will not go unheard. Finally, I should like to thank the members of the Council for the invaluable help and support which they gave to me during my year of office now drawing to a close, especially to the Vice-Presidents, who willingly undertook part of my duties during the months when I was incapacitated by illness from performing them myself. To these gentlemen, I am very much indebted as are also, I am sure, the members of the Society. I should like to thank the members of the Society for their support of the Council during the past year and for loyally accepting and carrying out the various recommendations of the Council which were given in the interests of the public and of the profession. I now move the adoption of the Annual Report. The motion for the adoption of the report was unanimously carried. Mr. Henry Shannon moved the following resolu tion, standing in his name :—" That the Council is hereby directed to appoint a Committee to make recommendations to a Special General Meeting of the Law Society to be held in private relating to the following matters : Any changes needed in the curriculum and organisation of the legal education for solicitors ; and that the above Committee shall have power to nominate thereon such representatives 37

mittees. As stated at page 13 of the report which was circulated with the Agenda for this meeting, increases have been granted by all the committees except the Circuit Court Rules Committee and the District Court Rules Committee. It is no fault of the Council's representatives on the Circuit Court Rules Committee that the Council's application for an increase in the costs of proceedings in the Circuit Court has not yet been fully dealt with., The matter- has been the subject of prolonged discussions by the Committee, and I can only hope that a decision in the matter will be arrived at without undue delay As country practitioners are aware, the remuneration, which solicitors receive for Circuit Court cases is altogether inadequate and insufficient to remunerate solicitors for the services which they render in these cases. They frequently have to travel long distances to attend Court, perhaps for a single case which involves absence from the office for a whole day. The services of clerks and typists are necessary to prepare the case adequately, and the present remun eration is not sufficient to cover overhead expenses and to allow the solicitor a reasonable margin of profit. The answer to the solicitors' claim for reasonable remuneration often given is that the Circuit Court was intended to be a cheap Court. Admitting that this is so, I think there are other ways in which litigation could be made cheaper than by asking solicitors to render their services for inadequate remuneration. I wonder whether any Committee has ever investigated the possibility of reducing the costs of litigation coming under the heading of "witnesses' expenses and Valuers' fees." In my opinion, a good deal of unnecessary expense is incurred in preparing and proving maps in Circuit Court proceedings, and it seems to me that there is a good deal to be said for the appointment of an independent Court mapper and valuer, who would be detailed to prepare and prove all maps for use in the Circuit Court. At the present time, in a comparatively small case, you will find independent maps prepared by separate engineers, each of whom has to be paid separately for travelling to the locus in quo, preparing the map and attending in Court to give evidence about matters in respect of which there is very often no conflict, and in respect of which there should certainly be no conflict of testimony. Again if a number of bills of costs were examined, it would be found that a"bout one half of the expenses consist of car fare and expenses paid to witnesses attending Court. This is due to the fact that witnesses are compelled to travel long distances to attend Court. If justice were made more accessible a great part of this expense could be avoided. Solicitors' Benevolent Association IN the year 1829 a circular was issued to vac memoers