The Gazette 1961 - 64

That the Council should approve of the following rule in regard to acting for both parties : (i) Where property is advertised for sale by public auction neither the solicitor for the vendor nor his partner or assistant shall act for the purchaser of such property in connec tion with the sale thereof contracted before auction, at the auction, or within six months after the auction and the purchaser shall be bona fide represented by an independent solicitor. (ii) That a regulation giving effect to this rule shall be made under section 73 of the Solicitors Act, 1954, to come into effect on the ist July, 1962. Television and radio broadcasts by solicitors The Council have approved of the following statement relating to radio and television appearances by solicitors, for the guidance of members : (i) A solicitor may take part in a broadcast without television on a non-legal subject under his own name but his professional occupation should not be disclosed. A solicitor invited to take part in a broadcast on a legal subject should ensure that he will be described as " Solicitor " or in some other term which will preserve his anonymity and his name should not be disclosed. (ii) (a) A solicitor may take part in a television broadcast on a non-legal subject and may appear and be introduced by name without reference to his professional occupation. (b) A solicitor who is invited to participate in a television programme on a legal subject should apply to the Society for permission. Such permission, if given, will be generally on condition that complete anonymity is preserved both as regards the name of the solicitor and his professional occupa tion. Permission to appear with a reference to the name or professional occupation of the solicitor, or both, may be given if the Council are satisfied that the interests and prestige of the profession or the interests of the public require it, or if the broad casting authority particularly wish for some good reason that the name of the speaker with or without his profession should be disclosed. (iii) The Council will normally issue such per mission only on an undertaking by the

solicitor not to accept any new client whom he knows or has reasonable ground for thinking may have come to him as a result of the T.V. broadcast. (iv) If correspondence results from a broadcast or television appearance the solicitor should write over a pen-name if he appeared anonymously and in other cases over his own name. In no case should such correspondence be conducted on his professional stationery. Normally the correspondence should be conducted on the stationery of the broad casting authority whether the topic is of a legal or other nature. Solicitor giving evidence on behalf of client The Council considered a case where member was asked to give evidence on behalf of a defendant in a road traffic prosecution in which he acted for the defendant and his retainer was subsequently with drawn. Member thought that there might be some objection on the part of the District Justice and he asked a colleague to interview the Justice privately and suggest that the case might be heard to a conclusion and if his evidence was not necessary the matter might be disposed of. If his evidence was considered necessary the suggestion was that the matter would be adjourned for the opinion of the Council. The District Justice agreed to this suggestion and heard the case to the stage where the defendant's solicitor called member to the witness box. The further hearing was then adjourned. The Council, on a report from a committee, stated as its opinion that there would be no professional objection to member giving evidence at the request of his client. The only question that might arise is one of privilege but in this case the client had requested the solicitor to give evidence and by so doing had waived his privilege. The privilege exists for the benefit of the client and the client is entitled to waive it if he wishes. INCOME TAX AND OTHER STATE CLAIMS The Council have been in correspondence with the Revenue Commissioners on the subject of expediting the procedure for obtaining clearance of income tax and sur-tax liability for the purpose of distributing the assets of deceased persons. The Revenue Commissioners claim that they are not bound by the statutory notice to creditors and that accordingly the personal representatives will be held liable for such claims even after the assets have been dis tributed unless inquiries have been sent to the Revenue Commissioners and certificates of clearance