The Gazette 1991

GAZETTE

OCTOBER 1991

t emp l a te w i t h the f o l l ow i ng headings:- instructions As we receive instructions either from our own clients or from colleagues, the data is inserted in the court list for the relevant court and saved on disc. Each case is given a number and the papers, summonses etc. relating to that case are pinned together and given the same number. From experience WQ have found that we receive instructions from colleagues and defendants themselves, right up to within 15 minutes of the court sitting, both by phone and now by fax. A printout is then done of the court list on the morning of the court and given to the author together with the papers, literally minutes before s/he goes to court. Naturally s/he will have seen the incoming in- structions as they arrive. Standard letters are then produced after court, in which the result of the case is given in the first schedule to the letter, and our fee is given in the second schedule. Notices of appeal, recognisances, warrants etc. are also set up and can be edited speedily after the court, if required. We pride ourselves on being able to notify all those who have instruct- ed us, layman or lawyer alike, of the result of the case by post within 48 hours of the end of the court. My only wish is that we always got paid as promptly! In an effort to expedite this service, we are currently setting up a data- file using a program called Locofile so that we will have the names and addresses of all our colleagues around the country from whom we regularly receive instructions avail- able to import into these reporting letters automatically using the mail merge facility of Locomail. Both Locomail and Locofile are fully integrated with Locoscript which is

ments, and datafiles, created over the past five years onto my Wang PC. Have I discarded my love, you may ask? No, she is still going strong, having been fitted with a second disc drive making her a PCW 8512 and she has now been joined by a younger sister, the PCW 9512, both of which are in daily use. New- comers on the staff find little or no difficulty in getting to know and love Joyce the way I once did. If I were asked if there is one single aspect of Joyce that I find most admirable it is her ability to make friends with anybody. On a number of occasions over the past five years we have had changes in staff for various reasons and I have found that newcomers with no formal wordprocessing training have been able, within a few days, to use Joyce without any great difficulty. None would go back to a typewriter again. Another advantage with having the 8512 and 9512 is that discs are interchangeable between the 9512 drive and the B drive of the 8512 so that if, for example, the daisywheel printer on the 9512 breaks down, one can move the disc being used on the 9512 into the B Drive on the 8512 and print one's file out using the dot matrix printer. Recently I have scrapped the daisywheel printer which the 9512 comes bundled with and linked a brother laser printer and a star printer to the Wang PC and the 9512. Those of you who use word- processors are well aware of why they have become so indispen- sable. However, for those who are still using typewriters, electric or otherwise, I shall outline some of the uses to which our office has put them. District Court Most of our work in the District Court is defence or road traffic prosecutions both for our own clients and also on an agency basis for other solicitors all over the country. We have set up a court list 304

the wordprocessiong package which comes bundled with the Amstrad. Locofont is another program that can be purchased. As well as this, we have set up a precedent set of forms for debt collection, licensing applications, local authority summonses (eg. litter, for possession, planning) warrants, civil processes, with en- dorsements of claim set up as separate files, which can be pasted in. Circuit Court and High Court Precedents of all forms which we normally use are set up on in- dividual discs with separate files for standard initiating letters, letters to doctors for medical reports, letters to witnesses, engineers, etc. Endorsement of claim, notice for particulars, garda reports and various other standard letters. Wills, probate and administration We have set up precedents of various types of wills over the past 5/6 years including single testator/ testatrix, mutual wills of married persons, and discretionary trusts. Various types of clauses are set up as individual files, as are different types of attestation clauses for use when the testator/rix is suf- fering from some disability eg. blindness. Being close to nursing homes, and hospitals, we find that it is of great assistance to be able to take in- structions at a person's bedside, and get a printout of that person's will within minutes, ready for execution. Speed can be vital on occasions like this. These wills we call "intensive care wills". In this age of universal travel we have found that it is again in- valuable to be able to take instruct- ions from a client in the office an hour or two before s/he is travelling abroad, and produce the will there

We pride ourselves on being able to notify. . . the result of a case by post within 48 hours of the end of Court