The Gazette 1995

N O V E M B E R

1995

GAZETTE

M E S S A G

'S

N T

The Law Society in Review

worked extremely diligently and, in my view, absolutely fairly in making decisions which obviously impact upon students already in the system i and hoping ultimately to come into the system. I would like to assure those | who may feel otherwise that decisions ] in the education area are not made lightly and certainly are taken only after intensive discussions. As there are so many different parties involved, it would be totally unsustainable were a decision or decisions taken which might merely fulfil the ambitions of i one section to the possible detriment of others. The overall good of the : profession must at all times be j considered and, as I have already indicated, the interests of those wishing to join the profession must also receive the most sympathetic and careful consideration. 1 must also stress that every effort must be made to attain very high standards for admission to the Law School and this will at all times be a major | consideration for the Education ; Committee. In the aftermath of the i Bloomer decision in the High Court the committee has made what I regard j as extremely correct decisions and | will deal with outstanding issues in due course. The implementation of the Courts and Court Officers Bill will, of course, be welcomed by the profession despite reservations about the non- admissihility directly of members to | the position of judges of the High and Supreme Courts. The right of members of the profession to nomination to the Circuit Court is I welcome and it is to be hoped that in the very near future they will take I their place on the various Circuits around the country. It is to be hoped ! that the appointment of more judges j will be followed by adequate administrative back-up and indeed

; willingness to meet with the various delegations from the Law Society and to discuss, in a reasoned and practicable way, the genuine concerns | of the profession. It is also fitting that ; I should acknowledge with thanks the j considerable co-operation which the I Society has obtained from the members of her staff in that regard. 1 would be anxious during my term of I office to endeavour to promote the profession so that it is presented in a \ more favourable light to the public. While there is no doubt that some of the adverse publicity is merited, my own feeling is that it is only a very small percentage of the profession who bring this about and that the vast majority of practitioners fulfil their clients' requirements with a very high degree of professionalism and expertise. I regard each member of the profession as his or her own best PR Executive and I am satisfied that with the correct degree of effort and goodwill the public view of the profession can be altered with resultant benefit to both the profession and the public alike. | i I wish to say at the commencement of my term that I am available to any : member of the profession should he or she wish to contact me and if I can ; assist in any way to assuage the fears or ease a burden then I am only too willing to do so. I realise that in saying this I may be leaving myself open to a fairly intensive degree of cross-questioning, but I must firstly acknowledge that I am President of your profession, that I am your representative and it is only by | listening to the members of the profession that I can adequately carry | out such representation. I I thank each and every one of you for i placing your trust in me and look : forward to a fruitful year. j Andrew F. Smyth

Andrew F. Smyth

\ On 24 November 1995 I had the honour and distinction of being i elected to the Presidency of the Law Society. I wondered as I took office what changes would take place during my year of Presidency as a natural follow-up to the Review Working Group's Report. I must congratulate those who made | submissions to the Review Working j Group as they were both constructive and clearly seen as beneficial to the profession as a whole. There are many facets of the Review which would require further discussion and consideration and it ; was for this reason that I asked at the | Annual General Meeting that such submissions should be made to the Review Committee at the earliest possible date so that they in turn can prepare an updated document for further consideration by the Council of the Law Society. I would ask you to attend to this matter urgently so that we in turn can report back to the membership by 7 March as promised. Education is very much on the mind of the profession and it is true to say that the Education Committee have

better facilities for the practise of law. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Mrs. Nora Owen, Minister for Justice, for her