The Gazette 1979

GAZETTE

MAY 1979

New Training Course for Solicitors' Apprentices

Every solicitor in the Republic knows of the contro- versy surrounding the establishment of the new scheme of legal education and training but not every solicitor knows the views of the Incorporated Law Society in that controversy. Following the despatch to public representatives of an anonymous circular in which the actions and attitude of the Society were criticised, the Education Committee approved a Memorandum setting out the Society's position and a copy of this Memorandum has been furnished — with a personal covering letter signed by the Director General — to each Dail Deputy and Senator. For the information of members of the profession and those members of the public seeking'practitioners' views on the topic, there is set out hereunder the text of the Society's Memorandum. Dissatisfaction with the existing educational process leading to the admission of solicitors in the Republic was being widely expressed in the middle 1960s. It had be- come clear that the arrangement whereby an apprentice's academic studies overlapped both with his service in his Master's office and with his professional examinations was becoming more and more unsatisfactory, to the detri- ment of his professional training. A report by the Society of Young Solicitors in 1967 recommended the separation of academic studies from professional training, (a system which operated in Northern Ireland since 1951). The Ormrod Report on the education of lawyers in England and Wales published in 1971 gave further support to this view. Approaches to the Department of Justice by Law Society representatives suggesting that amendments to the Solicitors Acts might be introduced to enable the system of professional training to be altered were re- ceived courteously but the Department indicated that it was unlikely that parliamentary time for such legislation would be available in the near future. Accordingly the Society was obliged to see if a new system of training could be introduced within the framework of the 1954 and 1960 Solicitors Acts and with some difficulty, (and unfortunately certain anomalies, largely relating to the length of the apprenticeship period for persons who are not graduates of British or Irish Universities), a new scheme was worked out within the existing statutory framework. This scheme was given statutory support by two Statutory Instruments, the Solicitors Act 1954 (Apprenticeship and Education Amendment No. 1) Regulations 1974 (S. I. No. 138 of 1974) and the Solicitors Acts 1954 and 1960 (Apprenticeship and Education) Regulations 1975 (S. I. No. 66 of 1975). Professor Richard Wolfe, Director of Education

From the outset the Society was anxious to ensure that the number of solicitors qualifying under the new scheme would be adequate to meet the demands of the public. In the early stages of its preparatory work in 1974 the Society took the view that an annual intake of approximately 100 into the profession would be adequate, the numbers which had been admitted over the previous 10 year period averaging 64 per year. At a later stage noting that the demand for newly qualified solicitors had been maintained the Society reviewed its figures upwards to 125. At this stage the Society took advice on the formation of its new professional training course from Mr. Kevin O'Leary, head of the Professional Training Course at the Australian National University at Canberra, a pioneer in legal training courses who advised the Society that it would not be educationally sound to attempt to cater for more than 75 students in any one training course. Taking all factors into account the Society decided to hold two training courses in each year, each of which could accommodate 75 students making a total of 150 per annum. Shortly after this the Society dis- covered on receiving statistics from the Higher Education Authority that there had been a phenomenal increase in the number of students entering the Law Faculties during the early and middle 1970s. The increases in law students over a five year period totalled 84% whereas the average increase in other faculties was less than 11%. During its negotiations with the University Law Faculties which had been taking place regularly from 1974 onwards, it had always been the hope of the Law Society that it would be able to offer exemption from the Society's Final Examina- tion - First Part (the entrance Law Examination) to Law Graduates but the great increase in the law student numbers, for whose future career prospects the Law Faculties apparently proposed to rely almost exclusively on the professions, rendered this position impossible. The Society has always been proud of its tradition of admitting as solicitors, through the seven year law clerk mode of entry, persons who have not had the opportunities of reaching second level, not to speak of third level education and also believes that a leavening of entrants from other disciplines, subject to their having the necessary academic legal qualifications, is a benefit to the profession and therefore to the public. Accordingly the Society was obliged to indicate to the University Faculties that it could no longer grant automatic exemptions to law graduates. To become apprenticed, a student must hold a university degree of a type specified in the legislation, or have been a bona fide law clerk for at least seven years or be a mature student who passed the Society's degree-level entrance examination. In every case the student must have attained an acceptable level of knowledge in six core legal subjects — Contract, Property, Tort, Constitutional Law, Company Law, and Criminal Law. 81