The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

Í

NOVEMBER 1993

N E W S Council to Campaign Further against Capping Awards

At its meeting on 22 October last, the Council of the Law Society resolved to campaign further against

| Commerce and Technology was linking his proposal to cap damages to ! the creation of employment in the Irish market-place, a link which, in the view of the Council, was unsustainable.

| correspondence. A revised draft would be presented to the Council at the November meeting when the Council Í would be asked to take a view on the draft.

the proposal by the Minister of State for Commerce and

Technology, Seamus Brennan, TD, to place a cap on the amount that could be awarded for pain and suffering in personal injuries claims. The Council decided that its future campaign should focus on the fact that innocent victims of accidents would suffer if the proposals were implemented. The Council endosed the views expressed by then Junior Vice- President, Frank Daly, that the theme or slogan for the campaign should be "why should the victims pay?". The Society would emphasise the fact that the Government had done little to minimise the number of claims which arose, such as the introduction of motor vehicle testing, improving the the condition of roads, etc. The Council decided to seek support from organisations which represented individuals likely to be affected by the proposal such as trade unions. Among the suggestions proposed by the Council were a standard letter or leaflet, which would be issued to solicitors' practices and which they could send to ! their clients, that would outline the Society's primary objections to the proposal. This could be displayed by solicitors in their offices. The Litigation Committee of the Society undertook to consider these proposals. Committee was recommending that an opinion should be obtained from senior counsel on the constitutionality of the Minister's proposal. It was noted that a good reaction had been received from TDs and Senators who had been lobbied on the proposal. It appeared also that support for the proposal among members of the Cabinet might not be unanimous. The Council noted that the Minister of State for The Chairman of the Litigation Committee reported that the

Pilot Civil Legal Aid Scheme

! Compensation Fund

| Members of the Council expressed disappointment that some members of the profession - a small minority - had i indicated their intention to participate in the Pilot Project of Civil Legal Aid being conducted by the Department of Equality and Law Reform in respect of civil legal aid cases in the District Court and that it was regrettable that

The Council was notified of a decision by the Compensation Fund to refer a i number of solicitors to the Disciplinary Committee and was informed of the Society's decision to re-enter a petition to strike-off a particular solicitor and to oppose a petition by another solicitor to be restored to the Roll of Solicitors. The Council also approved a schedule of payments from the Compensation Fund (see page 330). The Council noted the contents of the Accountants' Certificates Report which indicated that accountants' certificates had been submitted in 95.5% of cases. •

the Society's stance had not been supported by all members of the profession.

Admissions Policy

The Council gave further consideration to the Society's current admissions policy to the profession. In particular, the Council considered a memorandum setting out five possible options, based on the debate to date on the issue, which had been prepared for the Council by the Director General of the Society. The Council adjourned the debate on the issue pending the receipt of further views from the Southern Law Association, the Advisory Í Committee on Legal Education, and the views of the Education Committee ! of the Society, among others. The Chairman of the Professional | Purposes Committee reported that a new draft had been prepared of the , portion of Chapter 7 of "A Guide to | Professional Conduct of Solicitors in Ireland", dealing with undertakings. The Committee had received | correspondence from a number of | Council members in respect of the amendments circulated and intended to ! reconsider the draft in the light of this Guide to Professional Conduct - Undertakings

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