The Gazette 1972

Education and Efficiency* At the outset I might refer to two statements about the profession that deserve to be recorded. Master Baker or some long defunct Taxing Master said that solicitors get paid for work which they don't do and overpaid for some work which they do in order to compensate them for work for which they are under- paid or for which they receive no payment at all. The second statement is known as Murphy's law which pos- tulates that "if anything can go wrong it will". I think there two statements lietwcen them summarise many of the difficulties which confront solicitors in the course of their daily practice. They combine between them the obvious facts that solicitors must organise their offices as business men which has received insufficient recogni- tion in the past and they stress the necessity for in- creased efficiency to cope with the increasing speed and complexity of modern practice. The spectre of liability for professional negligence lurks continually in every office. It is a world wide phenomenon not confined to this country. The new generation of solicitors is faced with problems which never confronted their prede- cessors at the outset of practice and for this reason I have decided in this talk to avoid the well trodden ground of proféssional conduct and ethics and to deal instead with the question of running a solicitors office. Professional ethics

school for instruction on the practical subjects which are at present on the syllabus. Following attendance at the Society's law school and passing the professional examinations the appientice would serve a short term of articled clerkship probably 1J to 2 years in a solicitor's office. The advantage of this system would be that instead of a nominal apprenticeship as at present the apprentice would be a wholetime employee of the office and in that capacity would he able to earn a salary. Having served this shortened tenn of apprenticeship and satisfied the Society by interview that he had faith- fully complied with the regulations the apprentice would lie admitted to practice as a solicitor. The Omirod Report The Society's proposals in many respects anticipated the recommendations of the Ornirod Report recently published in England. The Ormrod Report recommend- ed that instead of apprenticeship the student should be admitted to the roll on a limited practising certifi- cate after attendance at the University and the pro- fessional law school and passing the examinations. lie would have to serve as an assistant solicitor for a pre- scribed period before admission to full practice on his own account. The common ground between the Society's recommendations and the Ormrod Report is the necessity of adequate full time practical training in the post-student stage before admission to full practice. Is profcwonal practice a business? I have been stressing the importance of qualifying ourselves to give proper service to the public. The important point that the clicnts interests must take precedence over the solicitor's own personal interests has been sufficiently stressed. A solicitor in addition to providing a professional service has to manage a busi- ness and here we must remember that we are responsible for dealing in the aggregate with very large sums of client's monies. In my opinion it is of equal importance to the practising solicitor and his clients that he should be an efficient business man in regard to his own office affairs as that he should be learned in what our apprenticeship indentures describe as the "art, mystery practice and profession of the law". If we do not manage our offices efficiently we shall fail to earn reasonable remuneration to pay our over- head expenses and staff and provide a reasonable profit. We shall fail to maintain the reputation of the pro- fession by prompt and efficient conduct of our clients' business. Clients' money placed in our trust may be in danger. Essentially from the business aspects a solicitor's practice is rather like a pharmacy. Each depends on annual turnover and cash flow if it is to live. Cash flow alleviated to some extent by the availability of bank credit is the life blood of any business. When the bank manager comes to own more of your business than you do yourself it is time to think of getting out unless you see some prospect of achieving financial independence either by effecting economies, expansion of business by greater energy and efficiency, amalgamation or some other means. Therefore for the remainder of this talk I propose to consider the busi- ness aspect of practice. 2 07

Mr. Osborne who has already delivered a lecture on the question of professional ethics has informed you that the service which we render to our clients must take priority over our own interests. If any question of conflict of interest arises between the solicitor and the client the client's rights must take absolute precedence. This is the main characteristic of a liberal profession. It involves maintaining a high standard of professional competence which is created not alone by the arduous course of instruction and study with which you are all familiar as apprentices but also by keeping oneself up to date with the everchanging legal system by reading statutes, regulations and textbooks and by attendances at the courses of continuing education which are run by the Society of Young Solicitors. Legal education reform In 1969 the Society made proposals to the Minister for Industry and Commerce for the reform of legal education. The proposals had been made to the Com- mission on higher education as far back as 1961. The main obstacle to improvement of the present system is that the Society is tied by statute and that no sub- stantial change can be made in the system without getting legislation through the Oireachtas. This takes many years. The Society's proposal is that a simple Bill should l>e introduced providing that the entire system of legal education and training for solicitors should be prescribed liy regulation by the Law Society subject to judicial concurrence prolwbly of the Chief Justice or the President of the High Court. This would enable the system to be adapted from time to time to meet changing circumstanccs and conditions. If the Society had these powers it would provide that every intending apprentice should first obtain a University degree and that he should subsequently attend the Society's law

*Extract from a talk to senior apprentices by the Secretary.