The Gazette 1955-58

ficates and in one case recommended the institution of proceedings in the District Court under Section 5 5 of the Act. The defendant admitted the offence and by consent no order was made except an order for payment of the Society's costs. The Com mittee recommend that the Council Bye-Laws should be amended to provide that the functions of the Society of instituting proceedings against unqualified persons who are solicitors for practising without certificates should be delegated to the Committee as these cases involve questions of solicitors' conduct and in accordance with the policy of the Council and having regard to Section 73 (5) of the Act ought to be referred to a Com mittee on which members of the Disciplinary Com mittee will not serve. 6. The following matters in connection with branch offices arose during the year. (a) A solicitor asked for permission to establish a branch office about 15 miles distant from his main office. He proposed to keep the branch office open daily and to attend per sonally at 5 p.m. For the rest of the time a typist would be in charge and in communica tion with the main office by telephone. The Committee drew the solicitors' attention to the following statement published in the Society's Gazette in June 1951 :— " The general principle is that it is not in accordance with proper professional practice that a solicitor's office should be managed by an unqualified assistant without adequate professional supervision of clients' business. While the adequacy of the super vision must depend upon the facts of particular cases the Council are generally of the opinion that a branch office which is opened daily should be manfged by a qualified assistant. If there is no permanent qualified assistant in charge of the office it should be opened only on days when the principal attends in person." The Committee reported that on the facts stated there should be no objection by the Society to the issue of the solicitor's practising certificate in the absence of evidence that there is no adequate personal supervision over each office, but the Committee reserved the right to review this ruling at any time. (b) A solicitor asked for the Society's view as to the opening of a sub-office in a country town. On enquiry the Committee learned

that the premises in which the proposed sub- office would be carried on were those of an auctioneer. The Committee decided to inform the solicitor that in the circumstances of the case they would disapprove of the establish ment of a sub-office in the same building as the auctioneer's office. 7. It falls within the scope of the Committee's duties to keep under review and to report to the Council on the numbers of apprentices entering into indentures and the number of new solicitors annually admitted. The Committee think that this matter should be kept under review by the Council having regard to the overcrowding of the pro fession to which, in the Committee's opinion, may be attributed in great measure the number of complaints which come before the Society and the Disciplinary Committee. The statutory obligation of the Society to maintain a Compensation Fund which will be sufficient to provide full indemnity after 1960 gives this matter added importance. The full effect on the number of practising solicitors of an excessive intake of apprentices on any period does not become apparent for at least five years and probably longer as solicitors may not commence to take out practising certificates for some years after admission. It is pointed out that an average annual increase of ten newly admitted solicitors continuing for ten years means an increase of one hundred in the number of solicitors on the roll for a whole practising generation—about forty years. Chart i attached shows the numbers of admissions annually from 1926 to 1956 and the numbers which would have been sufficient for recruitment. Chart 2 shows the number of new apprentices for each year. Chart 3 shows the numbers of practising certificates issued annually during the same period. The number of practitioners in the Irish Free State in 1926 slightly exceeded 1,000. The number of practising solicitors in the Republic is now about 1,350 of whom about 560 are in Dublin. The number of admissions for the year to z8th October, 1956 was 55. It is estimated that from 30 to 35 cease to practise annually. Any admissions per manently exceeding that number mean a net addition to the number of practitioners. The dotted line AB on Chart i shows the desirable number of admissions for comparison with the actual number during the period covered. It is apparent that the great increase in the number of practising solicitors in 1956 over 1926 is directly related to the number of apprentices taken on between 1926 and 1937. The effect of this over-