The Gazette 1990

A PRIL 1990

GAZETTE

Irish Solicitors in London Bar Association Second Charity Ball IContd. from pi 75) solicitors but of English solicitors too. Corporate tables at the Ball were taken by leading London firms Clifford Chance and Barlow Lyde & Gilbert. There were partners and other lawyers present from all of the other major firms of lawyers in London, including a large presence from my own firm Linklaters & Paines. There were also lawyers present from firms in other parts of Europe and in particular the recently- merged leading Dutch-Belgian partnership of Loeff Claeys Verbeke had a corporate table. It is good to know that in the run-up to 1992 our Ball is providing a social forum for lawyers from different countries in Europe to meet and exchange ideas in an informal manner! Keith Oliver of London firm Peters & Peters, a prominent member of AIJA ("Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats") in the UK, also contributed to the international flavour of the evening by arranging a large party of London-based AIJA members. They included Tony Seddon, the former UK Vice President of AIJA, who is Chairman of the Committee which is organ- ising the 1991 AIJA Congress to be help in London. The evening began with a champagne reception in the Bird Hall at the Natural History Museum. The Natural History Museum is an impressive vast Cathedral-like neo-Romanesque building erected in the 1870s. The giant Central Hall has a great vaulted iron roof and a monumental stair case leads from the Hall to the upper galleries. Towering over the Hall is a huge skeleton of a dinosaur - although those who looked carefully would have seen a plaque near its feet proclaiming that it is a mere plaster-cast copy of the original dinosaur on display in Philadelphia. It would be too much to expect that revellers would be allowed to frolic around a several- million years old skeleton! Dinner took place in the Central Hall immediately after the reception and as diners flocked in to the Hall the great dinosaur appeared to be eerily emerging from a mist, cleverly created by our lighting contractor, who had put dry ice at

Council of the Bars and Law Societies of the E.C. (CCBE) First European Lawyers' Conference • How does E.C. law affect your client and your everyday practice? • The future of the profession. • Co-operation between lawyers in Europe. • Working groups on various aspects of E.C. law. Brussels, 14th-15th February 1991

free of charge. Once again it amazed me how Ray and his staff tolerated, not only the fact that I sent everything to them at the last minute, but that I then proceeded to telephone them on several occasions to change the pro- gramme around! I would especially like to thank the other members of the Organising Committee, Anne Counihan, who is Vice-President of our Association, Philip Lee and Victor Timon. Special thanks are also due to my own firm, Linklaters & Paines, for the support and encouragement which they gave to me in connection with the organ- isation of the Ball. I am particularly grateful to all those who attended from Linklaters and especially to Hilary Lord and Andrew Carmichael, partners in the firm, who were in my party and sat with me and the guests. Andrew in particular deserves special thanks for his patience throughout! Everybody who was present agreed that the Ball was a tremendous success; it is now even more firmly entrenched in the London legal social calendar. Perhaps many Gazette readers who did not attend this year will consider doing so next year! As well as providing everyone present with an evening to remember and further promoting and enhanc- ing the position of Irish solicitors in London, the Ball has a welcome result on the financial front too. Although I am still waiting for some bills (and some funds!), from my preliminary calculations I have estimated that this year's Ball has raised just under £15,000 (sterling!) for the benefit of the Irish Youth Foundation. This certainly makes all the hard work worthwhile. •

its feet. Our caterers served a magnificent dinner, which was followed by the speeches. Dancing then took place to a five-piece band "Let's Dance" led by the energetic and effervescent Gus Kahan, who tempted even the most staid on to the floor! A raffle was held during the evening - it was ironic and particularly fitting that the first prize in our raffle, a return trip for two to Ireland, kindly donated by Aer Lingus, was won by John Randall of The Law Society. The principal aim of our Association is to press for the re-qualification of Irish solicitors in England and Wales and the progress which has been made on this front to date would not have been possible without the tremendous help which John Randall has given to me over the last two years. We were all de- lighted when fate rewarded him in this way. John is a great fan of Ireland and we are delighted that he will have an opportunity to visit Ireland for a reason other than to attend a meeting in Blackhall Place and have no doubt that he and Marie will very much enjoy their stay. As well as the Aer Lingus prize and the magnificent pieces of crystal donated by Murray Sweeney, other raffle prizes were donated by the Londonderry Hotel in Park Lane, London and by Board Failte and Ryanair. We are indebted to Ballygowan Spring Mineral Water Company, who supplied Ballygowan mineral water for the evening free of charge. As with last year, a very special word of thanks is due to Ray Cotter of Rayprint in Dublin, who printed our invitations and programmes

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