The Gazette 1992

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1992

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New York Irish Lawyers Gain Admission to Supreme Court

criminal legal aid in the magistrate's c o u r ts were i n a d e q u a te a n d he i n t e nd ed to i n t r o d u ce regulations which would spell o ut mo re clearly the r e q u i r eme n ts t h at s h o u ld be me t.

policy which insists t h at practitioners meet p r o p er s t a n d a r d s. T h e choice is then yours o n h ow to meet the challenge". T h e Lord Ch a n c e l l or told his a u d i e n ce t h at he h ad b e c ome increasingly c o n c e r n ed a b o ut the differential betwen the rates paid for civil a nd criminal wo r k. " I n o t e ," he said, " t h a t the rates for civil work are being set so mu ch above the h o u r ly rates for criminal cases." He said t h at in the longer t e rm, the way a h e ad for civil r emu n e r a t i on lay in s t a n d a rd p a yme n ts p r o b a b ly for stages of work as they were c omp l e t ed rather t h an for the case as a whole. In the largest cases he h o p ed to move to a system of p a yme nt in which the fees were negotiated at the b e g i n n i ng of the case a nd it wo u ld be possible to agree a n d pay mu ch of the e xp e nd i t u re as the case p r o c e e d e d. repeated his intention to i n t r o d u ce s t a n d a rd fees in the ma g i s t r a t e s' c o u r ts at the e nd of this year. T h e Lord Ch a n c e l l or said he would like to see f i r ms entering into long term c o n t r a c ts with the Legal A id Bo a rd to u n d e r t a ke blocks of cases b o th civil a nd criminal. Th is could be d o n e following c omp e t i t i ve t e nd e r i ng a n d would of course be against d e f i n ed quality s t a n d a r d s. In relation to fees for criminal legal aid wo r k, the Lord Ch a n c e l l or Turning to r emu n e r a t i o n, the Lord Ch a n c e l l or a n n o u n c ed t h at he i n t e n d ed shortly to ma ke an o r d er which would allow for the i n t r o d u c t i on of c o n d i t i o n al fee a r r a n g eme n ts p e rmi t t i ng lawyers to agree to accept cases on a n o -w i n, n o - f ee basis, with an uplift in the fee level if the case were wo n. • No Foal No Fee

T h e active Irish Lawyers As s o c i a t i on of New York h as scored a m a j o r c o u p by receiving p e rmi s s i on for u p to f i f ty of its memb e rs to be a dm i t t ed to the Bar of the US S u p r eme C o u r t. T h e a dmi s s i on c e r emo ny will take place in J a n u a r y, 1993. As s o c i a t i on C h a i r m a n, Brian Farren, says it m a r ks the " c om i ng of a g e " of y o u ng Irish lawyers in the Un i t ed States. T h e H o n Mr. Justice Anthony Hederman h as accepted the As s o c i a t i o n 's invitation to Wa s h i n g t on for the o c c a s i o n. Peter Sutherland h as also been invited, a n d a p r o g r a mme of activities over the weekend of Friday, 22 J a n u a r y, c u l m i n a t i ng in the Admi s s i on Ce r emo ny o n 25 J a n u a r y, is currently being organised. T h e New York lawyers h o p e t h at memb e rs of the Law Society of Ireland w h o have been a dm i t t ed to practice in the States of t he Un i t ed States might f o rm p a rt of the g r o up being a dm i t t ed to the S u p r eme C o u r t. Lawyers w h o have been a dm i t t ed to the highest c o u rt of any State of the Un i t ed States for at least three years o n the d a te of the a p p l i c a t i on to the US S u p r eme C o u rt would be eligible. T h e Irish Lawyers As s o c i a t i on of New York was f o r med in the mid eighties a nd this is not its first c o u p, says Brian Farren, " a few years a go we h ad to take on the New York City Bar As s o c i a t i on to retain o u r right as law g r a d u a t es f r om a c o mm o n law j u r i s d i c t i on to sit the New York Bar exam w i t h o ut f u r t h er study in the Un i t ed States. We wo n ." T h e ma in a ims of the Association are to assist Irish lawyers w h o emigrate to New York, to enable Irish lawyers in New York to keep in t o u ch with o ne a n o t h e r, to liaise with the profession in Ireland, a nd to we l c ome visiting Irish lawyers. •

Lord Chancellor Mackay T h e Lord Chancellor was addressing the En g l a nd a nd Wales Co n f e r e n ce in the context of an experiment in legal aid franchising which h ad just been completed in B i rmi n g h am. T he Legal Aid Board intends to invite applications for franchises f r om UK legal f i rms f r om July, 1993. Meanwhile, the Law Society of En g l a nd a nd Wales has said that it will withhold s u p p o rt for the proposals until s ome key details o u t s t a n d i ng have been worked ou t. At the heart of practitioners' dissatisfaction with the proposed system of franchising is the level of control that would be exercised by the Legal Aid Board regarding personnel a nd financial ma n a g eme nt as well as the actual ma n a g eme nt of cases. In turn, the Legal Aid Board argues that its intention is merely to obtain certain assurances a b o ut the level of service that legal aid clients would receive f r om the franchised firms. T h e Lord Ch a n c e l l or told the c o n f e r e n ce t h at he was aware t h at considerable fears a n d misgivings h a d been expressed by the profession a b o ut the Legal Aid Bo a rd f r a n c h i s i ng e x p e r ime n t. It seemed to h im likely, however, t h at f r a n c h i s ed f i rms wo u ld have a competitive edge in a t t r a c t i ng the legal aid client. " F r a n c h i s i ng h as to be an active

SURVEILLANCE Discreet Listening and Recording Equipment Telephone For 1992 Catalogue Pegasus (01)2843819

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