The Gazette 1967/71

fusion of the profession. After prolonged discussion we have taken the view that full fusion is inadvisable at present and would not be to the advantage of the litigant. This is not to say that we do not recognise the need for reform. Our branch of the profession has a good record on the question of reform —for instance, if legal education had been in our hands reforms for which the Society, the Universities and the students have been calling would have been brought about years ago. We have gone as far as we can but we need the co-operation of both the Department and the Bar to bring about the changes which must come. Many of you will have read the article on law reform in the Daily Telegraph Magazine. May I quote the last sentence of the article—"Unless the legal professions summon up the courage to reform themselves they may find an impatient public has taken the task out of their hands." The Author, a Mr. Whitaker was talking about Britain but a similar warning could be given here. The Minister has indicated his views about a number of things. I hope we shall be able to co-operate with him and use our restraining influence where necessary. The Council has decided that in co-operation with the Law Faculties in the Universities and with the Benchers of the Kings Inn if they agree, we should urge the Minister to bring in as quickly as possible the legislation already submitted to him which will enable us to put into effect the reforms in legal education— an essential prelude to other reforms. Meanwhile I have arranged with the Chairman of the General Council of the Bar of Ireland that we shall have informal talks about our common problems. It is occasionally suggested that we operate a closed shop. This is simply not true particularly now that everyone has the opportunity to obtain a secondarv education. We have certainly had to raise the standard of our preliminary examination. One reason for this is that the number of prospective entrants to the profession has been steadily increasing and without some restriction we would be faced with serious over crowding. It should always be remembered that the Solicitors profession is one that does not train young men and women for export and even in an expanding economy it may be difficult to absorb about 100 hew Solicitors every year when the average number deaths and retirements does not exceed about 35 per annum. I do believe however that there will arise more and more opportunities for qualified Solicitors in commerce and industry and of course the whole question of training for the profession awaits the implementation by the Government of the amendment to the Solicitors Act which as my predecessor mentioned had been submitted to the Department of Justice last year and has been under consideration by the Higher Education Authority and the Deparment of Education. The complaints which are most frequently voiced about the law are about delay and expense. But this profession with the encouragement of the Council is doing a great deal to cut out delays and to improve efficiency. In many of the cities there have been amalgamations leading to specialisation and improved service. The Society is playing its part in all this reform by providing more and more services for its members but all this effort, all this expense, all this re-structuring, and co-operation is of no avail if there continues to be delays in the Estate Duty Office, delays in the Land Registry, appalling delays in hearing of cases in Court. Our complaints about all these delays are nearly always sympathetically received but they are always the two branches of

blamed on shortage of staff and this in turn is caused by lack of Finance—so we are back again to cost—to money and to the fact that if the public want efficient legal service they must pay for it. But our complaint with regard to the Land Registry is that the Public pay very heavily and do not get the service to which they are entitled. It is quite usual for a simple Dealing to take a year to reach completion and it is understandable that clients find it difficult to believe that their Solicitors are not at fault when such a long time elapses between for instance the payment of purchase money and the production of a new Folio showing the purchaser as registered owner when there has been a sub-division. Very often the sub divided plot is being acquired by young married people for the building of a home. Most local authorities insist on prior registration of the applicant's title before the authority Solicitor certifies for a Housing Act loan. It is often difficult and always expensive to arrange a bridging loan and the client suffering hardship and inconvenience usually blames his Solicitor for the delay. The delays in the Estate Duty Office are particularly serious and we have pressed, so far without success, for provisional assessment as in England so as to enable Probate to be obtained without delay leaving questions about such matters as the value of shares in a private company to be dealt with later. Delays in dealing with accounts in the Estate Duty office are also apparently due to understanding. I must say also that practitioners themselves often contribute to the delay by not sub mitting proper Schedules, Statements and references and of complaint about the slow process of litigation and here again the Solicitor is vunerable because he is the person in direct contact with the litigant and is often suspecfed of passing the buck when he suggests that those responsible for the delav are the Bar, the Department or the Bench. It is instructive therefore to read the reply given by the Minister for Justice to a query from our colleague Mr. Fitzpatrick in the Dail about delays in the Dublin Circuit Court. This reply disclosed an alarming backlog of arrears and a crying need for additional court accommodation a position which presumably will get worse when the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court is increased. PUBLIC RELATIONS The Council have for some years been concerned about improving their Public Relations. I have always taken the view that the individual Solicitor is his own best Public Relations Officer but of course the individual cannot advertise and often the onlv reference to the profession in the various news media are confined to our work in the Courts. It is clear that we must improve our communications and for this purpose we have appointed on a part-time basis a Public Relations Officer who will advise and co-operate with the secretarial staff and members of Council and of the profession generally in the whole area of communication. The Minister for Industry and Commerce has announced and it has been confirmed bv the members of the Government that the Fair Trade Commission will soon start to investigate the professions and their restrictive practices. by not dealing with queries promptly. DELAYS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT There seems to be a gathering momentum