FEWER LAWYERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 904, 22 February 1930, Page 6

FEWER LAWYERS

REPORT OF AUCKLAND SOCIETY BAD LIBRARY CONDITIONS For the first time for many years there was a decrease last year in the nLimber of legal practitioners in the Auckland district. This statement appears in the annual report of the Auckland District Law Society, which will be presented at the annual meeting on March 14. The number of practitioners last year was as follows: Barristers, 229; solicitors, 519. For the previous year the figures were 232 and 534 respectively. The council recorded with deep regret the deaths of Sir Charles Skerrett, Mr. C. F. Buddie and Mr. C. N. Hayes. A . . Congratulations were extended to Sir Michael Myers, the Chief Justice, Sir Alexander Herdman and Sir Thomas Sidey on the honours which have been conferred on them. The thanks of the profession are due to the Attorney-General, Sir Thomas Sidey, for the helpful interest he took in the Solicitors’ Fidelity Guarantee, continues the report. The Bill, which had been introduced into Parliament in 1928, was largely redrafted by the Crown Law Draftsman and passed both Houses last session with only minor amendments. The guarantee provisions of the statute are, it is understood, unique in the British Empire, and are being studied closely by the profession in England and the other Dominions. They will certainly constitute a landmark in the history of the profession in New Zealand, and although the first payments which have now been made under the scheme may appear a heavy burden on the young solicitor, there is reasonable ground for the belief that the resulting public confidence in the profession as a whole will amply justify the course adopted. The acceptance by the profession of the burden of making good loss caused by the dishonesty of any of its members is a practical gesture which cannot fail to stimulate public confidence. As a result of proceedings instituted by the society during this and the previous year three solicitors were struck off the roll by the Court of Appeal. No decision has been reached regarding a new law library biiilding. "The conditions under which judges and counsel have to work in the meantime continue to be a disgrace to the administration of justice in this district,” states the report. The annual conference of the Law Societies will be held in Auckland this year.

The council has been notified by the executors of Mrs. E. J. Campbell, widow of the late Mr. Hugh Campbell, that provision was made in her will for the payment of interest on £I,OOO to provide an annual scholarship for law students of the Auckland district. It will be called the “Hugh Campbell Scholarship.”