The Gazette 1990

DECEMBER 1990

GAZETTE

From the Director General

The English Law Society Conference 1990

keep out of our patch and we'll keep out of yours' applied for the first 90 years of this century, but it will not do now. It is simply no longer true that we prepare the cases and barristers present them, or that we are the general practitioners and they are the specialists. It has not been true for some years and the Courts and Legal Services Bill will en- sure this trend continues." Here the President was outlining his view of how solicitors will com- pete in the future with barristers for advocacy work now that the Courts and Legal Services Bill con- tains a framework which will allow solicitors, on a basis of merit, to exercise advocacy rights in the Superior Courts. There will, of course, be a quid pro quo, in that any legal obstacles restraining barristers from providing certain services at present will also be removed - though it remains to be seen whether the Bar Council will in the future modify its rules to enable this to happen in practice. As far as conveyancing was con- cerned, the President struck an 'up- beat' note. He was confident that the profession would successfully take on the competition that will come from licensed conveyancers. A new marketing technique under the banner TransAction had al- ready been launched, he said, and this had received a great welcome from the profession. The idea is that solicitors can market their own conveyancing service locally under a nationally promoted brand name.

New Business Opportunities Tony Holland sees the Britain of the future, "with the fewest restrict- ions, the most entrepreneurial out- look and with lawyers who understand both the civil and common law" as the legal centre of the world; "the natural place to study as well as the place to do business". He believes the opening up of Eastern Europe offers tremendous business opportunities for lawyers with the growth of trade which that will bring with the new democracies. There are those who wiU see this section of Tony Holland's address as inspiring stuff from a man who has clearly given thought to current issues affecting the profession and has developed a coherent policy of a forward-looking nature. Others, perhaps, will be somewhat less enthusiastic and may well have concerns about the direction the Law Society now seems to be taking. One way or the other, the debate will continue and we in Ireland shall watch it with more than just a passing interest. The Sir Humphreys The President's address was fol- lowed by a session in which three serving Secretary Generals of Law Societies, John Hayes from England, Kenneth Pritchard from Scotland and Frederick Heemskerk from the Netherlands presented personal views of the role of Law Societies in a changing profession. John Hayes sees the task facing his Society as one of encouraging

"There's a lot Glasgowing on in 1990" is the slogan of this year's European City of Culture and on my visit there in mid October (my first to the city) for the English Law Society Conference there was ample evidence that the slogan was more than just a catchy phrase. The city seemed alive and brimful of energy and activity. Undoubtedly much has been done in the past decade to improve the once drab image of Glasgow and the city is now rivalling the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, as a centre of culture and the arts. Pride of place goes to the newly opened Concert Hall, majestically standing at the end of the pedestrianised Sauchiechall Street and this magnificent building was the location for the principal sessions of the Conference. Presidential Address The Conference opened on Thursday, 18th October, with the keynote address from this year's President, Tony Holland, who had chosen the theme "a new decade, a new service". As the title sug- gested he might do, the President donned his visionary hat, grabbed his crystal ball and gave us a glimpse of how he saw the future (or at least a part of it) of the legal profession. "The days of cosy agreements to decide on the division of functions between the branches (of the profession) are over. 'You

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