The Gazette 1986

GAZETTE

JULY/AUGUST 1986

INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND GAZETTE Vol. No. 80 No. 6

July/August 1986

Comment . ..

In this issue . . . Comment

. . . Unwelcome Publicity

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T he vast majority of practising solicitors have been embarrassed yet again by a tiny minority of colleagues who have been paying below the rates of pay fixed by the Joint Labour Committee for Law Clerks. A recent newspaper headline: "Lawyers top the list of law breakers on minimum pay", unjustifiably leaves us all feeling guilty. Who were those solicitors who, during 1985 and during earlier years also, topped or nearly topped the list of employers in breach of Joint Labour Committee Orders? The Law Society, over many years, has indicated to the profession that it will treat the non- payment of solicitors of these statutory minimum rates of pay as being unprofessional and subject to disciplinary action. Equally, over a number of years, the Law Society has requested from the Department of Labour the names of the defaulters ascertained by its inspectorate, but the Department has always declined to furnish that information, leaving the Law Society impotent to take direct action against such defaulters. That the number of solicitor/employers involved is very small is self-evident. Apparently, in 1985, the arrears of under-payments collected by the Department of Labour from solicitors totalled just over £35,000 — not a large sum taken in the context of the almost 1,400 firms of solicitors operating in the State. It is certainly true that solicitors like many other self- employed people are finding it hard to make ends meet in the difficult times we are living in. However, that cannot be an excuse for breaking the minimum pay Order. If a solicitor cannot afford to pay at least the legal minimum rates to his employees, he should consider reducing the number of staff. Properly paid staff are usually more willing and more productive and thus more valuable. Let us hope that 1985 will have been the last year that solicitors will appear anywhere near the top of this particular league table. •

Performance Guarantees

169

Expediting Registrations in the Land Registry

178

Tipperary Bar Association AGM

179

Kings Cup Football Tournament

180

Profit Sharing

183

Correspondence

187

Professional Information

189

Mary Buckley Charles Meredith, Chairman John F. Buckley Gary Byrne Geraldine Clarke Michael V. O'Mahony Maxwell Sweeney Sean OhOisin. Tel. 305236 307860 Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford

Executive Editor: Editorial Board:

Advertising Co-ordinator: Printing:

The views expressed in this publication, save where other- wise indicated, are the views of the contributors and not necessarily the views of the Council of the Society. The appearance of an advertisement in this publication does not necessarily indicate approval by the Society for the product or service advertised. Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.

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