The Gazette 1991

Solicitors Bill Dominates A.G.M

Debate Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, 1991 dominated the proceedings of the Society's Annual General Meeting that took place in Blackhall Place on Thursday, 14 November, 1991. Business/Accounts Minutes Of the previous General Meeting were adopted without amendment. Frank Daly, outgoing Chairman of the Finance Committee, reported that there had been a surplus in the annual accounts to December, 1990 of £67,837. The Society had the dubious privilege of paying £36,000 in tax. He said that he expected a surplus next year. Mr. T.C. Gerard O'Mahony referred to the accounts. He said the cost of maintaining the Law Society per solicitor had risen from £29 in 1971 to £357 per solicitor in 1990. The outgoing President, Donal Binchy, said that costs were very carefully monitored by the Director General and were kept to a minimum. Mr. O'Mahony queried what the liability of individual members of the Society would be for its debt. Frank Daly replied the liability would be nil since the Society was incor- porated. Mr. O ' Mahony also enquired about the report on the Law Soc i e ty by a t eam of management consultants. The Director General, Noel Ryan, said a firm of management consultants had been commi s s i oned to examine the operation and staffing of the Law Society. The consultants had subjected the Society to a rigorous examination including the level of staffing, salaries, and divisons of responsibility. It had been considered to be an op- portune time to engage in such a process to co-incide wi th the appointment of a new Director General. The President said the objective was to have a trim operation that was not overstaffed, but, rather, adequately staffed to meet the obligations and duties placed on the Law Society. The draft report of the management con- on the

A cross section of the attendance at the Law Society Annual General Meeting.

Solicitors (Amendment) Bill 1991 Under any other business there was a wide ranging discussion of the Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, 1991. There was a large number of speakers; what follows is a cross section of contributions. The President, Donal Binchy, said that, back in 1984, the Department of Justice had offered the Law Society the opportunity to become involved in discussions on the Bill. The Society had accepted the offer fully aware that it would have to maintain the utmost confidentiality about the discussions. The Society had reposed its confidence in the Solicitors Bill Committee. The Committee, he said, had operated very successfully. A number of positive provisions in the Bill had been sought by the Society. Furthermore, the Committee had been successful in neutralising a number of potentially negative provisions. It also had to be remembered that a number of very unpalatable provisions had ended up on the cutting room floor thanks to the i n t e r ven t i on of the Committea However, it would have been unrealistic to have expected that the Bill would not contain provisions that t he profession wou ld oppose. The President emphasised that the Law Society's public response to the Bill when it was published on Friday, 25 October, 1991 had been a pre- liminary one. The entire profession had been informed immediately of the contents of the Bill. A very 417

sultants was now being considered by a steering committee as to how best it might be implemented. Mr. O'Mahony also expressed concern about the cost of expendi- ture and maintenance on the Society's premises. He said the cu r r ent report showed t hat expenditure for the four years prior to 31 December, 1990 was in excess of £1m and it was extimated that more than £300,000 had been spent prior to that. Furthermore, he noted the Premises Committee was gravely concerned about imminent subs t an t i al expenses to be incurred. Replying, Stephen Maher, outgoing Chairman of the Premises Committee, said that the Law Society's premises were the envy of every other profession in the country. The building provided excellent f ac i l i t i es for the secretariat and for meetings and seminars. The expenditure on the premises had to be considered in the context of what it would cost to rent office space. Mr. Maher said he estimated that the cost of renting office space would be £300,000 to £400,000 per annum. Whatever money had been spent on the premises had been well and carefully spent. He said he could not give an exact figure for the current value of the premises but they were insured for £17m. The reports of the various committees as published in the Annual Report 1990-1991 were adopted.