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GAZETTE
- (Continued from page 403)
different culture a nd ma y be to
acquire an a d d i t i o n al l a n g u a ge skill.
T h e degree, particularly if d o ne on a
full-time basis, is expensive.
Ap p l i c a n ts s h o u ld b u d g et £7,000 to
£10,000 o n fees a l o ne a nd there will
also be living expenses. T h e loss of a
year's salary is the biggest cost.
Ma n y p a r t i c i p a n ts take o ut a b a nk
l o a n. For Irish solicitors there is also
the possibility of o b t a i n i ng a
scholarship t h r o u gh the Law
Society's " J P O'Reilly Memo r i al
F u n d " .
T h e degree s h o u ld not be u n d e r t a k en
with unrealistic expectations.
Comp l e t i on of the course does not
d o u b le o n e 's salary, it may not even
increase it in the current recessionary
e n v i r o nme n t. T h e p a y b a ck is in the
long t e rm. Mo re impo r t a n t l y, f i n d i ng
a j o b as g o od as or better t h an the
o ne left b e h i nd to d o a full-time
course might not be easy. T h e j o b
p l a c eme nt rate f r om the t op UK
Business Sc hoo ls this year h as been
slow a nd in s ome cases
d i s a p p o i n t i n g.
Wi th ever increasing c omp e t i t i on
f r om within a n d w i t h o ut the
profession, o b t a i n i ng an MBA
degree, by whatever me t h o d, should
better e q u ip a solicitor for the years
a h e a d. P u r s u i ng the degree will
certainly b r o a d en a p a r t i c i p a n t 's
h o r i z o n s. T h e answer to wh e t h er the
q u a l i f i c a t i on is wo r th the cost a nd
e f f o rt involved h as to be based u p on
a solicitor's individual assessment of
his or her situation a n d amb i t i o n s.
Richard Deveueux qualified as a
Solicitor in Dublin in 1985. He was
last year's recipient of the J P
O'Reilly Scholarship and he recently
completed a full-time one year MBA
course at Strathclyde Graduate
Business School in Glasgow,
Scotland.
Applications for the 1993/1994 J. P.
O'Reilly Scholarship should be
submitted to the Law Society by 8
January, 1993. Details and
application forms are available from
Emily Francis
or
Sharon Hanson
at
the Law School
(01-710711).
•
Book Reviews
there are however a significant
n umb er of topics where recent
English legislation is being c o n s t r u ed
by the c o u r ts a nd t ho se p o r t i o ns of
the work which deal with t ho se areas
are of less value to the Irish
practitioner.
T h e sections on E u r o p e an
C o mm u n i ty law a nd on criminal law
are p r o b a b ly of mo st interest to the
Irish practitioner.
T h e b o ok is well laid o ut with
c omp r e h e n s i ve tables of cases a nd
statutes a nd the readability level of
the articles is high.
John F. Buckley
The New Product Liability
Regime and Annotation of the
Liability for Defective
Products Act, 1991
Edited by Alex Schuster, Irish Ce n t re
for E u r o p e an Law, 1992, 96pp,
p a p e r b a c k, IR£12 (memb e r s) IR£16
( n on memb e r s ).
T h e B r o o k i n gs Institution in the
Un i t ed States, in a study entitled the
" T h e P r o d u ct Liability Ma z e ", h as
s h own t h at the current system of
p r o d u ct liability law in the Un i t ed
States h as kept g o od p r o d u c ts o ff
the ma r k e t, because ma n u f a c t u r e rs
are a f r a id to take the legal risks.
Studies also show t h at research on
new p r o d u c ts such as an A I DS
prevention vaccine h as been inhibited
by the product-liability system.
Further, Ame r i c a 's p r o d u ct liability
system h as generated u n n e c e s s a ry
legal costs.
T h e US Federal P r o d u ct Liability
Fairness Bill struggled for a d e c a de
to be h e a rd a n d finally reached the
Senate f l o or in S e p t emb er 1992. T h e
r e f o rme rs urged t h at a single,
n a t i o n al s t a n d a rd for p r o d u ct
liability would bring sanity to a
r u n away legal system. However, the
US Senate killed product-liability
r e f o rm in m i d - S e p t emb er 1992 in
wh at was described as a c l i f f h a n g er
vote. R e f o rm s u p p o r t e rs vowed t h at
they would try again next year.
Ireland is in the f o r t u n a te position
( hop e f u l l y) of having r e f o rmed its
p r o d u ct liability law in the f o rm of
the
Liability for Defective Products
Act, 1991.
Alex Schuster, the editor
of the b o ok u n d er review, notes t h at
the
Liability for Defective Products
Act, 1991
owes little to the creative
instincts of the denizens of the Dail
or S e a n a d. He states the new
legislation is mainly the p r o d u ct of
I r e l a n d 's o f f s h o re legislature, the
Co u n c il of Ministers of the
E u r o p e an Commu n i t y. However, we
should n o te t h at Ireland is a h e ad of
the Un i t ed States with its r e f o rm.
This b o ok c o n t a i ns p a p e rs delivered
at a c o n f e r e n ce designed to explain
the implications of the law on
liability for defective p r odu c t s.
Alex
Schuster
in his p a p er assesses b o th
the provisions of the new legislation
a n d the extent to which they would
fit within the f r amewo rk of the
c o mm o n law. P r o f e s s or
Bryan
McMahon
examines s ome of the
practical p r o b l ems generated by the
new legislation.
Rolald Rowell,
the
Legal Services Director of Law
La b o r a t o r i es Limited, o f f e rs advice
to p r o d u c e rs as how best to exercise
control over their ma n u f a c t u r i ng
o p e r a t i o n s.
Jim O'Mahoney
c on c e n t r a t es in his p a p er on the
insurance implications of the new
regime.
Maurice Healy,
the Director
of the Na t i o n al C o n s um er Co u n c i l,
o f f e rs a c o n s umer perspective.
William Fagan,
the Director of
C o n s um er Af f a i r s, writes on the
implications of p r o d u ct liability for
business.
Gerard Sheedy
of the
Co n f e d e r a t i on of Irish I n d u s t ry a nd
Ewing Paterson
also write briefly on
the new regime.
T h e b o o k c o n t a i ns the a n n o t a t ed
text of the
Liability for Defective
Products Act, 1991
together with the
P r o d u ct Liability EC Co u n c il
Directive of July 25, 1985.
The Irish Centre for Eu r o p e an law
and Alex Schuster have provided a
practical vade-mecum for lawyers a nd
students. This is indeed welcome.
Eamonn G. Hall
•
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