The Gazette 1984

GAZETTE

SEPTEMBER 1984

and whether this requires to be broadened in adminis- trative subjects. Also under this heading it must be remembered that certain areas of practice are likely to be lost to the profession in the coming years. d. Earnings This issue is extremely general and must cover such aspects as the assessment of fair starting salaries and conditions of employment. It may well be that the enforcement of minimum conditions in terms of employment would have a benefit to the profession as a whole. Certainly the treatment of newly qualified Solicitors as being no more useful or trustworthy than the Secretary casts no credit on the profession as a whole or the training received as an apprentice and through the Law School. Low salaries put no pressure on the employer to make the fullest utilisation of the asset they have acquired nor does it encourage clients to treat the opinion of such an assistant with any regard. In fact the under utilisation or the demeaning of an assistant reflects no credit on the practice in which he is operating. Again, under this heading can be considered the abuse being made by certain employers of the widely held belief as to the level of unemployment within the profession. The proposal by some firms of a three year contract at a minuscule salary, made on the basis that they are performing a favour to the employee, is such an abuse. Such treatment is degrading to the individual, immoral on the part of the employer and when, inevitably, members of the public become aware of such arrangements, increases the public image of the profession as being crooked and money-grabbing. e. Restriction on setting up in private practice Again, this is an issue which cannot be considered in isolation. There is a genuine belief on the part of some members of the profession that there should be a restriction prohibiting members of less than three or perhaps five years post qualification experience to commence practice in their own right. However, the argument often used, that this is essential to prevent the advent of numerous negligence and compensation fund claims should not be countenanced without statistical evidence as to the frequency of claims arising from the actions of younger, as against older, members of the profession. Equally the issue cannot be fairly tackled when the alternative to commencing in sole practice may be, for many, the acceptance of degrading levels of salary and general conditions of employment. f. Public Relations Much concern has been expressed by members of Council and individual practitioners as to the public image of the profession as a whole. The marketing and public image of any individual practice begins at the door of that practice and continues, most immediately, through Reception and the members of the firm. So also the whole profession is judged by the public through the experiences that any individual member of that public has had with his or her Solicitor. The young assistant who consults with a client in a cramped corner office and who in social situations criticises his employer as being mean

and tight-fisted lowers still further the reputation of the profession. From what I have said above it should be clear that I feel the elements which make up the full and beneficial employment of a young Solicitor should be to the concern of the profession as a whole and Council of the Law Society, in particular. This is an issue which requires the urgent attention of the'Society. • Editorial Note: Some useful statistical information which is relevant to some of the points raised by Mr. Murphy is available in the paper "Estimated Supply and Demand for Solicitors in 1986 and 1991", published by the Society in 1978. The tables to this paper show the sudden rise in apprentice- ships and subsequently in the numbers of solicitors which commenced in the early 1970's. That this was not simply a function of the increase in the numbers of those reaching Third Level education is shown by the fact that the percentage increase in the numbers of students studying law was substantially higher than the percentage increase in overall student numbers. The number of solicitors holding practising certificates fluctuated over the 16-year period between 1954 and 1970 between a high of 1374(in 1955) and a low of 1290 (in 1962 and 1963). By 1974 it had increased to 1550, by 1977 to 1780, by 1978 to 1944 and as of 22 August, 1984, it stands at 2,963. Mr. Murphy rightly questions the use of the word "unemployment" in relation to newly-qualified solicitors and offers an example of under-employment. There is also some evidence available of an increase in the numbers of solicitors who are setting up practice in one or two- principal firms within their first few years of practice. There is anecdotal evidence that some of these firms may have been set up either because of the scarcity of assistant- ships in established firms or the lack of opportunity for advancement in such firms. Low salaries being offered by such firms, as suggested by Mr. Murphy, may be a further reason. •

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