The Gazette 1973

Admission Ceremony The President of the Society, Mr. T. V. O'Connor, in presenting parchments to newly-admitted solicitors on Thursday, 7 June 1973 in the Library of Solicitors Buildings, said : Ladies and Gentlemen, My first pleasure and privilege today as this year's President of the Law Society is to congratulate all you former apprentices on your admission as Solicitors. This important event in your lives represents the fruits of years of intense study and anxiety. You have now reached the goal and end of your student days and are enjoying the happy reward that comes from your years of labour. It is a great occasion both for yourselves and also for your parents and friends and may I on behalf of the Council of the Law Society and on my own behalf bid you and them a warm welcome to this ceremony. This profession of ours despite adverse criticism which has existed from time immemorial ranks high in public esteem. One of the reasons for this is no doubt that the public recognise that our profession has been and will continue to be perhaps the only bulwark between the ordinary citizen and the encroachment on that citizen's rights and liberties by an acquisitive state and by acquisitive public authorities. It is the duty as well as the privilege and the right of a lawyer to stand in as that bulwark and often irrespective of the reward or fee paid to himself. Having congratulated and welcomed you young Soli- citors, it is not out of place, I hope, for me to put a few considerations before you with a view to guiding you in your lives and work. Most of you will, shortly, I presume, be working in offices; and in a sense it is only then that you will begin to learn the' ordinary practice and procedure and business administration which are such important parts of the life of a Solicitor. Some of you have offices prepared and ready to receive you and in that respect you are fortunate but others will be tempted to set up in practice on their own. Whilst I have known many Solicitors who set out starting on their own becoming very proficient, on balance I think it is better for any young Solicitor to seek some established office, for a while at least, there to spend some time in acquiring the "know-how" as regards getting work done, correspondence replied to, and how to get on with other people whether they be clients or fellow-members of the staff of the office. I say this even if the amount of salary offered, for a start, may be considered by present day standards to be on the low side. Many of you will have difficulties from time to time in regard to ethical standards and in regard to how to do certain work. In our profession there is a great "Esprit de Corps" and you would be well advised in any such case to consult either a senior colleague or the Secretary or one of the officials in the Incorporated Law Society's office in order to remove doubts and set your mind at ease. Always remember that there is no need to confess ignorance to a client but at the same time never be above asking for advice from those competent to give it in any matter of doubt and never affect to understand when you do not understand thoroughly. There is, I know, no need whatever for me to stress the most important rule of all for any Solicitor (or for

that matter for any professional man) and that is to be scrupulously exact down to the smallest item in money matters, etc. in your account of them, and it is impor- tant always to be straightforward and sincere, and also I need hardly tell you that you must never fail in an engagement made and that you must observe rigid punctuality and on that account please be slow to promise a client or anyone else unless it is clear that you can punctually fulfil the appointment. Our pro- fession is an old and honourable one and amongst you young Solicitors here today there are some who will in time perhaps make that profession still more honour- able, some who will set a headline not only for his colleagues but for the community at large. I wish each and all of you young Solicitors the very best of luck, success and every happiness throughout your lives. You are aware that the first priority of our Society since we entered the E.E.C. is to establish the effect of our membership of that body on our own domestic laws and we are bound to ensure that we are equipped to deal with any problem that might be presented by a client involving community laws or regulations. I sug- gest that in the near future you might devote some of your time to browsing amongst the Common Market Law Reports, which our Society has acquired and thereby getting to know something about the Com- munity Laws and Regulations. You must remember that these Laws and Regulations will in time penetrate into our national system and it is clear that the Euro- pean Economic Community Law will become part and parcel of the stock-in-trade of all lawyers practising within the community and that includes ourselves, the lawyers of Ireland. It may well be that many of you here will in the course of a few years be found practising in France or Germany or Italy while your counterparts in those countries may well be practising here. For that reason may I suggest that, if you already have not got fluency in a continental language, you should consider taking steps at once to making yourself fluent in one of those languages without too much delay. In conclusion having congratulated yourselves and having congratulated your parents who have gone to such expense, and in some cases difficulty, in putting you through an arduous professional course, there are a few things I would recommend to you. You should consider joining the Incorporated Law Society which controls our profession and has many facilities to offer. I also advise you to join the Society of Young Solicitors, a body which holds seminars, useful and enjoyable, in different parts of the country, and also to join your local Bar Association. I would also suggest that you join the Solicitors Benevolent Association which is a body of long-standing and which has helped many Solicitors and their widows and dependents in time of financial stress, and it operates throughout the 32 counties, and there are so many persons who through no fault of their own are thrown back on the resources of the Benevolent Association. There is now formed in Dublin a body called F.L.A.C. (Free Legal Aid Centres) and it is a most charitable and worthy body and one through which Solicitors, particularly in Dublin, can show that they are concerned for the welfare of their fellow human beings, and their unselfishness. 159