The Gazette 1978

GAZETTE

OCTOBER 1978

without the assistance of such a body of men and womén, and so long as our society by its educational programme and its administration of the profession succeeds in providing for the community solicitors of that calibre, our profession has nothing to fear. 1.5 There would appear to be two particular challenges facing our profession in the immediate future, and by this I mean over the next decade. The first is the challenge presented by the movement towards greater European integration. The brake applied to this movement by economic recession would appear now to be gradually relaxing, and the possible conclusion of arrangements for a European monetary system would seem to indicate that progress in that direction is once again a real probability. The economic, social and fiscal consequences of these developments are obviously very considerable and will undoubtedly have an effect on the demands for legal services of various kinds. In particular they will require that we should become more familiar with the effect within our country of the directives and regulations emerging from the E.E.C. Commission. 1.6 The other great challenge facing us, is that of the application of computer technology to legal practice. This has already had a very considerable impact in the United States, in Australia and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom, and in Europe. The primary application has been to accounting and time recording functions but it is clear that from our point of view, the next phase will see very widespread use of word processing. Later will follow the storing and retrieval of legal information by computer. These developments may sound far-fetched to many of those who have not had the oppor- tunity of seeing them in operation, but once you have seen them in use, it is impossible not to believe that their impact on the way in which we practice law will be enormous. Modern technology has put new and vastly improved tools at the disposal of the lawyer in the practice of his science. We must be prepared to learn to use these tools to improve the service which we will give to the community and at the same time cope with the ever- increasing cost of operating a legal practice. 1.7 To sum up, we live in times of rapid change and every organisation, not least the legal practice, requires periodic reappraisal of every facet of its operation on a regular basis if it is to continue to fulfil its function in society. 0 \ President 2.1 The year under review saw the continuation of much work initiated by the Council in previous years. We are happy to report that much has been accomplished. Throughout the year the Council operated on the basis that all work was initially processed by the Standing and ad hoc Committees of the Council and that decisions were taken on the basis of recommendations from those Committees. All Standing Committees met on the evening before or on the morning of the day of the Council meeting. It was not necessary to hold any special meeting of the Council during the year. 2.2 Premises: Highlight of the year's activities was the official opening of the Society's Headquarters and Law School in Blackhall Place, Dublin 7, on June 14th by an Taoiseach, Mr. Jack Lynch, T.D. The opening has already been fully reported in the June issue of the Gazette. 2.3 Coupled with the opening was a decision by the Council to proceed with the work on stage three (i.e. the chapel and adjoining area). In taking this decision, the Council was motivated by the fact that the additional cost of actually completing stage three, over and above the cost of making the area wind and weather proof, was relatively small particularly when undertaken within the terms of our contract. As the year draws to a close, it is satisfying to report that the contractors expect to hand over the whole premises before 31 October 1978.

COUNCIL

Joaeph L. Dundon

President

Gerald Hkkey Mr*. Moya Quintan

Vice-Presidents

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