The Gazette 1992

JUNE 1992

GAZETTE

N W E S Soc i ety Reviewing Advert ising Regulat ions

Report of the half-yearly meeting of the Society held on 11 May, 1992.

The half-yearly meeting of the Law Society that took place on 11 May last was told that the Society is currently reviewing the Solicitors Advertising Regulations as there is a view in the profession that the regulations need to be tightened up. The meeting also heard reports on the current state of the Retirement Fund, the Solicitors' Benevolent Association and discussed the Compensation Fund and the promulgation of new scale fees in the District Court. Advertising In response to a question from F.X. Burke about whether it was permissible for Solicitors to advertise on the backs of buses, the Director General of the Law Society, Noel Ryan, said that there was no prohibition on advertising in any particular place so long as the form of the advertisement conformed with the Solicitors (Advertising) Regulations. However, there had been some disquiet during the past few months about certain forms of advertising engaged in by a small number of solicitors and some solicitors had been brought before the Registrars Committee and had given undertakings about their future conduct in this regard. The Society was currently reviewing the advertising regulations, he said, but the review would have to take account of the provision of Section 63 of the Solicitors Bill, which would make certain changes including legalising fee advertising. Therefore, the review could not be completed until the Solicitors Bill was enacted.

At the half-yearly meeting of the Law Society held on 11 May were l-r: Tom Men ton, O'Keeffe & Lynch; F.X. Burke, and Peter Prentice, Past President, Law Society.

Committee would like to see a general tightening-up and greater clarity in the regulations. He encouraged solicitors who are in any doubt about the content of a proposed advertisement to submit the text to the Registrars Committee for clearance in advance. Compensation Fund Mr. Frank MacGabhann said it was a matter of extreme urgency that a ceiling should be placed on the level of claims payable under the Compensation Fund. He asked what the Society proposed to do if the Government refused to impose a ceiling and whether the Society would take a case to the courts to have the fund declared unconstitutional. Replying, the Law Society President, Adrian P. Bourke, said that the Society was making

to have new criminal offences created in the Solicitors Amendment Bill, 1991, which would enable solicitors who misappropriate clients' funds to be prosecuted more readily. He also confirmed that a constitutional action was being considered by a number of solicitors. District Court Scale Fees Michael D Murphy enquired what the position was in relation to the promulgation of new scale fees to deal with the increased jurisdiction of the District Court. Gerard Griffin said that it was hoped that the District Court Rules Committee would shortly promulgate new scale fees to deal with the increased jurisdiction. The scales originally proposed by the Department of Justice were totally unacceptable to the Costs Committee of the Society. The President of the District Court had now agreed on a level of fees that was acceptable to the Insurance Federation and the draft rules would be shortly submitted to the Minister for Justice for approval. (Continued on page 203)

every effort to persuade the Government to introduce an appropriate amendment to the

Solicitors Bill. It was clear that the profession was unwilling to continue to tolerate an open-ended unlimited fund. Adrian Bourke also referred to the fact that the Society was seeking

Gerard Griffin, Chairman of the Registrars Committee, said that the

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