The Gazette 1996

GAZETTE

APRIL/MAY 1996

N E W S

Report of Council Meeting held on 19 April 1996

The following is a brief summary of proceedings at the meeting of the Council of the Law Society on 19 April, 1996.

3. Motion - Lawyer/Client Privilege

duplication of effort in having two General Meetings only a short period apart, why it was proposed to adjourn the half-yearly General Meeting and to be reconvened on the same date as the scheduled Special General Meeting of the Society on 25th July, 1996. It was agreed that this was a common sense proposal and it was adopted. 7. Industrial Action in Companies Registration Office and Land Registry i Industrial action by certain employees in the Companies Registration Office and in the Land Registry, in protect against Government policy in relation to a staff recruitment embargo, was causing serious disruption to solicitors and their clients. The Director General | had written to a series of individuals at Ministerial and other levels demanding action to resolve the problems, thus far without success. The situation was being kept constantly under review and it was | agreed in principle to 'go public' on the issue if at any stage it appeared ; this might contribute to an improvement in the situation. 8. Personal Injuries Case Conference/Draft Practice | Direction Council noted the deep reservations of j the Litigation Committee in relation to a draft High Court practice note proposing to introduce case | conferences for personal injury actions. The Litigation Committee fears that if adopted it could result in unnecessary work for solicitors and for judges without any benefit for the parties to the litigation.

"That this Council reviews the policy of the Society with regard to lawyer/client privilege generally and the powers of the Society in particular."

1. Motion - Compulsory Insurance Regulations

"That this Council take urgent steps to alleviate the financial hardship which the compulsory insurance regulations will impose on the majority of the profession."

Proposer: James McCourt Seconder: Hugh O 'Neill

This motion was adjourned to the June Council meeting so that a paper could be prepared in advance of the meeting setting out the Society's legal powers and its policy in relation to the seeking of information verification from client files in the course of investigations by the Society's investigating accountants.

Proposer: James McCourt Seconder: Hugh O 'Neill

This motion had been adjourned from the March Council meeting. The proposers did not wish to pursue it further at this time and, accordingly, the motion was adjourned generally.

4. Education Litigation

2. Motion - Special General Meeting

The Chairman of the Education Committee reported in relation to the proceedings being brought against the Society by 811 law undergraduates

"That this Council adopts the resolutions passed at the Special General Meeting of the Society held on Thursday, 7th March, 1996."

seeking judicial review of the Society's educational decisions

following the High Court Judgment in the Bloomer case. The proceedings are being strenuously defended by the Society.

Proposer: James MacGuill Seconder: Hugh O 'Neill

The Society's Bye-Laws provide that a resolution passed at a General Meeting is not binding unless subsequently adopted by the Council. Some Council members indicated they were unhappy with some of the Review Working Group recommendations which were voted on and adopted at the Special General Meeting, in some cases late in the evening and without any proper debate. However, the majority view was that the proper course of action now was for the Council to adopt the resolutions and on a vote the motion was passed. Some of the changes will require amendments to the Society's Bye-Laws and draft amendments will be placed before a further Special General Meeting on 25th July, 1996.

5. Lay Members' Report

The Director General reported on the second annual report which had been made by the lay members of the Registrar's Committee and which had concluded that the Society operates a fair and transparent complaints procedure. The Report had been sent to the Minister for Justice and circulated, with a press release, to the media where it had by and large been positively reported. 6. Proposal to Adjourn half-yearly General Meeting The President outlined the reasons, to do with avoidance of cost and

| 9. Seminar on 'Law in the Marketplace'

The President reported on the very successful seminar on 'Law in the Marketplace' which was held in

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