The Gazette 1967/71

the division of the profession enables the client to obtain legal advice at a moderate cost. Mr. O'Donnell said he had spent two years in the States—one in Harvard, and one in a large law firm in Chicago. The hallmark of the American lawyer was essentially the American system of legal education and training ; but there was very little mobility between legal offices—once em ployed, one tended to stay there all one's life. It is essential to obtain a law degree before passing the Final Bar Examination and the failure rate is surprisingly high. The Chicago firm contained no less than 95 lawyers—45 partners and 50 asso ciates ; it was divided into Sections—Tax> Cor poration, Trial, etc. There was a well stocked Law Library in the actual firm, and there was an even more comprehensive Law Library in the sky scraper building ; finally there was the famous Chicago Bar Library. The apprenticeship system was considered old fashioned, and it was more important for the American lawyer to become a specialist, with a team of researchers and investi gators to help him. It is essentially a good system of fusion without fuss. Mr. Michael O'Mahony, favouring fusion, said that it might remedy the glaring defects of the two senior and junior counsel so prevalent in Ireland and that often in practice barristers had only read their briefs half heartedly. Mr. Neville, the chair man, stressed that the Law Society had proposals for text books under consideration. A report had been published by the English Bar recommending that the rule conferring two-thirds of the fee of senior counsel to junior counsel be abrogated. Mr. John Buckley said that changes were bound to come. A unified system of legal education was essential, whereby the inter-change between the professions would take place. It was mediaeval that barristers were not allowed to enter into partnership or chamber system to encourage specialists. It was unfortunate that too many soli citors tended to rely on the same counsel for every legal problem. It was inevitable that, in applying their restrictive practices, the Bar would be excluded more and more from large commercial transactions. As regards judicial appointments Mr. O'Donnell pointed out that the judiciary in the American State and Federal Courts were on a par with ours as a Senate Committee investigates all judicial appointment; the dissenting judgments of Hrandeis were famous.

Mr. Gleeson (Thurles) speculated on the effect on the rural practitioner of the proposed increase in jurisdiction, and of the effect of increased High Court sittings in the country. It will be expensive to provide an efficient service in rural areas, and it was essential for the rural practitioner to have access to the members of the Bar, in view of the fact that there were no adequate law libraries in country areas. LEVY ON WAGES AND DIVIDENDS URGED A PRICES STABILISATION LEVY to be imposed by the Minister for Finance on both dividends and pay to stop rising prices was suggested by Professor Michael P. Fogarty, director of the Economic and Social Research Institute. He was speaking in Dun Laoghaire at a training school for full and part-time officials of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He suggested also that this could be helped if there were proper policies for farm incomes, the professions and shopkeepers5 margins. Everyone, said Professor Fogarty, resented rising prices, but no-one, so far, had shown what could be done to stop them. Prices had risen by two-thirds in the last ten years, and by 35. or 35. 6d. in the £i in the last two years alone. The worst part of the damage done by rising prices was the part that was least visible, the damage to the prospect of new jobs and of ending emigration. Suppose, he said, that the growth of income over the last 12 years, since the time when the economy really began to move, had been kept to what was needed to buy the extra production as it became available without forcing up prices ; in that case, he said, prices today would have been I2s. in the £i, compared to what they were now ; so would incomes and in real terms each would have been exactly as well off as now, neither better nor worse. Professor Fogarty drew attention to the effect of this on development, and said that it would have meant that the Irish salesman visiting Britain, Germany or America could quote a price of I2s. where today he quoted £i. The Industrial Development Authority, talking to firms interested in coming to Ireland, could point to Ireland as the cheapest country in the world from which to export. The Irish housewife, comparing the price of foreign and Irish products in the shops, would see a price of I2S. on the Irish product where she saw £l today. EXPORT ORDERS There would be no need for a " Buy Irish " movement; no one in his senses would buy anything else ; export orders would be pouring in ; we could, he said, bury Buchanan and all his works under an avalanche of appli cants to build factories anywhere in Ireland and could afford to pick and choose from the applicants. He added that a proper degree of Irish participation, Irish directors en the board and scientists in the labora tory and encouragement to native Trish enterprise could be insisted uoon. Emigration, he siid, would vanish over night ; people would be streaming back ; the farmer coming off the land would have no need to chase a job ; recruiters for Irish firms would be chasing him. The resources of the country would be overstrained to 144