The Gazette 1987

SEPTEMBER 1987

GAZETTE

many and varied forms o f prop- erty but h e i s concerned with administering th e organisations that own these properties as a director o r manager a t various levels. This must raise the question whether the business lawyer i s able to continue in the traditional profession o f law in competition with large institutions whose business i s that o f property, transfer o f property, mortgages, pensions, investment, broking of various kinds, banking, insurance or whatever. These businesses are highly profitable and an individual who chooses to be a lawyer ex- pects to be paid the same as those employed by such institutions and if he cannot do so then he leaves the profession of law as such and joins the outside business world. The question is — does he cease to be a professional in the true sense of the word? Has his func- tion changed? Money This heading is used rather than 'remuneration' or 'compensation' because money in its strict sense

is purely a lubricant (although sadly it has come to be regarded as a commodity in its own right) and is no more than a measure o f pro- ductivity. Productivity is the result of effective work; i.e. activity that creates a product that has a market and hence has worth. Digging a hole in the ground and putting the soil back i s hard work but wor- thless and hence cannot be class- ed a s production. Extracting minerals or growing food surplus to requirements lacks value. Lack of effective work equals poor pro- ductivity equals poverty. True pro- ductivity creates wealth. Without wealth people cannot be looked after and will ultimately die in the streets as beggars. The history of civilisations i s littered with ex- amples. The process is not always slow. Increasingly, a s business has become more complex, wealth has accumulated in the hands o f in- corporated bodies, controlled more and more by a diversity of share- holders, and hence the business lawyer has been remunerated by a slice of that wealth. To do so, he has had to specialise, because of the need of that wealth-creating

body to be advised on and have its property protected b y someone knowledgeable in the complexity of the laws by which its business is governed. The gulf between the amount of money received by the business lawyer and the lawyer engaged in general practice is vast. Yet the need for the general prac- titioner is greater than ever. Private individuals wish to be advised upon their rights and to have them re- presented to a court, to a tribunal or to another private individual. The dedication and responsibility o f lawyers in this field is as great or greater than those engaged in busi- ness law. The sense of personal in- justice in the mind of an individual is not easily erased and the preven- tion o f i t and consequently the future of the individual and his abili- ty to cope with life is in the hands of his lawyer. The adrenalin flows with the same, if not greater force. The money received by the ad- vocate in general practice is usual- ly inadequate. The private client can frequently not afford to pay an adequate fee, and i f he can does not regard i t a s justified. The system of taxation of costs active- ly encourages that.

J . & E. DAVY STOCKBROKERS

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