With years of experience behind them in soliciting, Mullingar firm J.A. Shaw & Co continues to lead the way in the county when it comes to representation and the law. John Shaw is a partner at the firm and has recently been installed as President of the Law Society of Ireland. What a year 2008 proved to be for Mullingar solicitor John Shaw. For the first time in the history of the Law Society of Ireland, three generations of one family now hold the distinction of having served as its President. After over 20 years serving as a solicitor, John D. Shaw started his presidential term for the year 2008/09, with effect from November 7. John's father Thomas D Shaw was President of the Law Society in 1988, while his grandfather Dermot P Shaw held the office in 1956. "It's a privilege," said Shaw. "You get to associate with quite a lot of people in your profession as you and are invited to speak at functions all across the country. You also have a lot of interaction with the Government and the DPP." Established way back in 1773, the Law Society of Ireland now exercises statutory functions under the Solicitors Acts 1954-2002 in relation to the education, admission, enrolment, discipline and regulation of the solicitors' profession. The society itself has two main functions. Number one is to work to improve access to the law generally and also provides representation, services and support for solicitors themselves, while number two is to deal with complaints from the public about members of the profession and administer a statutory compensation fund. John joined the society three years after obtaining his BCL law degree from UCD in 1992, and finds himself sitting in its most prominent position almost two decades later, while still a member of its Property Registration Authority. "In the last couple of years we'd of dealt with a lot of property related cases," Shaw explained. "I would have done a lot in state management and construction, but obviously that has changed in recent times with this recession and everyone has been affected." Not even J.A Shaw and Co Solicitors have been excluded since the Celtic Tiger cried out its last purr. When the 111-year-old firm decided to make its move outside Mullingar town from Bishopsgate Street a few years back, where they were a stone throw away from Westmeath GAA headquarters at Cusack Park, to Marlinstown Business Park, they had done so successfully, but without being able to expand their offices since. "There's scarcely a firm not suffering in Ireland (at the moment)," said Shaw. "We've had plans to expand our offices here, but the recession has put those plans on hold for a while." Expanding well-appointed offices may seem like a mere concern when jobs are being lost everyday across the land, but when people are preparing to dish out their coveted euros to a firm to represent them they sometimes tend to lean towards image rather than reputation. Besides, J.A Shaw & Co has suffered in other ways, as one of its namesakes explains. "We have nine solicitors here and another 15 employed in related work, so all in all there would be in and around 24 or 25 full-time employees," said Shaw. "With the way things are they've all had to take some cuts in their hours during the week, including myself. Hopefully it's only temporary, but basically it came down to that or losing a few of our workforce and I think we have made the right choice. "Thankfully Irish solicitors are generally flexible, and the Irish people as a whole tend to be resilient. It's important that everyone is able to adapt and be creative," he added. Just two months after Shaw had taken office with the Law Society, confidence in the legal profession was at an all-time low following a series of scandals. The most high-profile cases were those of Michael Lynn and Thomas Byrne, who were both struck off by the President of the High Court. The two Dublin solicitors, who were fined two million euro and one million euro respectively, may have cost financial institutions more than 100 million. The Law Society's director general, Ken Murphy, described the cases as a "major crisis for the society and the profession". The Law Society's compensation fund was nearly halved in value as a result of the number of claims against solicitors. At the time president John D. Shaw stated: "I'd have to concede that the profession has suffered significant professional damage, but the vast majority of solicitors do their best, and I think they have been very let down by the few." Shaw's character is one that refuses to budge in the face of tough times, and perhaps that's why such a prestigious society has chosen to make the 44-year-old Mullingar man its chief in the midst of one if the sternest economic recessions in living memory. In his practice, Shaw mostly occupied himself with conveyance and property law, particularly in recent years, two areas which have been suffering the most to date. "It's fair to say that we've had a couple of high profile cases in the last year where solicitors were struck off, with some cases still ongoing," said Shaw. "Some of these solicitors had connection with the property boom, and they completely lost the run of themselves. But it didn't justify what they did." While Shaw himself has cited his new role with the Law Society of Ireland as a "marvellous opportunity", being able to represent thousands of solicitors in government dealings, he also acknowledges that he has taken the reins of presidency in one of its most demanding times. "It's going to be tough," he admitted. "When I first started out in the Law Society the country was experiencing a boom time and things were certainly a bit more comfortable than they are at the moment. "While things are getting tougher, I am confident that we can pull through this as a whole and I am doing my best during this term to try and assure all I speak to of that." Despite now settling into his figurehead position, where he finds himself speaking and representing over 10,000 solicitors across the land, Shaw doesn't forget his roots and where it all started for him when he walked into his first court room as a solicitor 20 years ago. "There's a huge sense of job satisfaction for solicitors, especially when a case goes well; when you successfully defend someone in court, particularly when you're standing on your own two feet. "I miss the atmosphere of the District Court," admitted Shaw. "It's a great training ground for solicitors, but no matter what area of law you practice, you'll find that you're on call all of the time." Six years after fully qualifying as a solicitor at Blackhall Place in Dublin, John married his wife Eileen and they have since had two children, Caoimhe, 12, and Patrick, 10. Their youngest is heavily involved with the Mullingar Harriers GAA club at underage level. Although an avid golfer with the Mullingar Golf Club and choir singer with the Mullingar Cathedral Choir, John admits that his own involvement in leisure has taken a back seat recently with his work in Mullingar and new role on a national scale, as well as weekends with his family and keeping up to date with the Harriers underage scene. Tweet

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