The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

MAY/JUNE

1995

N E W S

International Client Counselling Competition

Congratulations are due to Valerie Kennedy (36th professional course) and Mairin Stronge (37th professional Course). Valerie Kennedy and Mairin Stronge came second place in the International Client Counselling Competition which was held in Florida from 30 March to 2 April. They travelled to Florida with Bernie Walsh, Law School tutor to participate in the competition. They would like to thank their respective offices for allowing them the time off to travel to the competition. Valerie is an apprentice in English & Associates, Fermoy, Co. Cork and Mairin is an apprentice with Walker O'Carroll & Hogan, Athlone, Co. Westmeath. There were eight different countries competing in this competition. The competition gave the law school representative an opportunity to exchange views with law schools from other jurisdictions. The information and materials made available by other law schools should greatly facilitate improvement of our own communication skills module on the Professional Course. learning the law, researching cases and statutes, understanding legal principles, analysing hypothetical legal problems, and arguing for or against rather abstract propositions. On the whole, little attention has been paid to learning about clients. Clients however, are the raison d'etre for most solicitors and understanding the needs of clients must be an essential element of the solicitors' portfolio of skills. In the last few years, law schools have begun to appreciate that it is possible to teach substantive law in a more practical context and have introduced into the curriculum what in the United States is called client counselling and in England is called client interviewing. The emphasis in such courses will vary, but the essential purpose is to enable the Until quite recently the focus of solicitors' education has been on

Preparing for the International

Client Counselling

Competition

(from left): Valerie

Kennedy, Chairman,

competitor;

Bernie Walsh, tutor; Mairin Stronge, competitor and James MacGuill,

Education Advisory

Committee.

aspiring lawyer to see the client as a person with all the problems, anxieties, prejudices and concerns that clients have, rather than as a one dimensional hypothetical problem in respect of which they are asked to advise. The focus of the skill is to elicit information, or facts, from a "client" in an appropriate manner, being aware of the nuances of behaviour in an interview, to identify the apparent legal issues and to develop an appropriate strategy for further action. Alongside these changes in legal education have developed a number of client interviewing/counselling competitions. The impetus for the competitions in the U.S. originally came from Professor Louis M. Brown of the University of Southern California in 1969. "The structure of our own Professional Course has been altered considerably to take into account the need to enhance communication skills. On recent professional courses the time given over to communication skills has been increased to reflect a vital need for this skill for practising solicitors", says James MacGuill, Chairman of the

Education Advisory Committee. Interviewing competitions are held on the professional courses. As winners of these competitions, Valerie and Mairin were chosen to represent Ireland in the International Client Counselling Com- petition. The purpose and the format of the Competition is indeed to encourage law students to appreciate the need for effective interviewing techniques and become aware of a variety of different client dynamics including, for example, dealing with clients who may be emotionally demanding, or who introduce ethical dilemmas as well as having legal problems. Special thanks are due to James MacGuill, Brian Sheridan and all the Law Society staff who helped in the preparation for the competition. Assistance was also provided by last years' competitors Phil O'Hare and Andrew Coonan. During his speech at the parchment ceremony on 7 April our President Patrick Glynn congratulated Valerie and Mairin. "It goes to prove that the students going through our Professional Course can hold their own on the international stage" he said.

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