406 / 432
GAZETTE
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
1994
T h e I r i sh S o c i e t y f o r E u r o p e an L a w
Officers and Council for 1994 -
1995
President
Judge Brian Walsh
Vice-Presidents
Judge Thomas F. O'Higgins
Judge Andreas O'Keeffe
Judge Donal Barrington
Judge John Murray
Mr. Vincent Landy, Senior Counsel
Mr. Finbarr Murphy, Barrister
Dr. Eamonn G. Hall, Solicitor
Mr. Vincent Power, Solicitor
Chairman
Mr. Bryan Sheridan, Solicitor
Vice-Chairman
Mr. Arthur F. Plunkett, Barrister
Hon. Secretary
Mr. Noel Travers, Barrister
Hon. Treasurer
Ms. Anne Nagle, Solicitor
Committee Members
Ms. Nuala Butler, Barrister
Mr. Anthony Collins, Barrister
(Co-Editor of the Society's Journal)
Ms. Edwina Dunne, Solicitor
Mr. Edward Donnellan, Barrister
Mr. Gerard FitzGerald, Solicitor
Ms. Fionnuala Kilcullen, Barrister
Ms. Monika Leech, Barrister
Mr. Patrick McGovern, Solicitor
Mr. John Meade, Solicitor
Mr. Kieran Mooney, Barrister
Mr. Andrias O'Caoimh, Senior
Counsel
Mr. James O'Reilly, Senior Counsel
(Co-Editor of Society's Journal)
Ms. Ann Walsh, Solicitor.
Membership of the Society is open to
lawyers and to others interested in
European Law. The current annual
subscription is £30.00 (£15 for
students and those qualified for less
than three years). The annual
subscription includes entitlement
to a copy of the
Irish Journal of
European Law
for the year of
membership.
Applications for membership (which
should be accompanied by payment of
the annual subscription) should
include name, address and, where
relevant, year of qualification and
should be sent to the Hon. Treasurer
Ms. Anne Nagle, Solicitor, Solicitor's
Office, Telecom Eireann, Harcourt
Centre, 52 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2.
Tel: (01) 671 4444 ext. 5053. Other
correspondence should be addressed
to the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Noel
Travers, Barrister, Faculty of Law,
University College Dublin, Roebuck
Castle, Dublin 4.
•
of family law and industrial relations
; in Ireland. However, despite
increasing pressure on our courts
system, our legislature has not as yet
adopted ADR methods in a more
widespread way as a means to address
that pressure. While The Queens
Bench Commercial Court in England
has now done so in a Practice
Direction in 1994, as follows:
; ". . . . the judges of the court wish to
encourage parties to consider the use
of Alternative Dispute Resolution
(ADR), such as mediation and
conciliation, as a possible additional
means of resolving particular issues or
disputes. The judges will in
appropriate cases invite parties to
consider whether their case, or certain
I issues in their case, could be resolved
by means of ADR. . . . The clerk of
the Commercial Court will keep
a list of individuals and bodies that
offer mediation, conciliation and
other ADR services. . . . This p
ractice statement will be drawn
to the attention of all persons
commencing proceedings in the
Commercial List."
In this jurisdiction we are a long way
away from developments in one State
in the U.S., where failure to advise a
client in a commercial dispute of the
existence of ADR techniques
was held to amount to professional
negligence!
Conclusion
Solicitors have a number of valuable
and potentially profitable roles in the
mediation process. They can act as
advocates for their client at the initial
joint meeting. Throughout the process,
they act as advisers to their clients,
consulting throughout the risk-
analysis process and providing advice
on legal issues. They will also
normally draft the settlement
document and be involved in its
implementation.
ADR abroad is helping to improve the
profitability of processing lawyers'
case loads, in particular of risky or
"no foal no fee" cases, and is helping
to boost lawyers' incomes. It is also
; creating greater client satisfaction
with lawyers' services, and improving
client loyalty. There is no reason why
it should not have the same effect in
this jurisdiction.
Apart from our duty to our clients and
| to our overburdened judicial system of
which we are officers, solicitors also
have a duty to themselves and their
families to consider new methods and
i techniques which may enhance the
| profitability, "user-friendliness" and
indeed continued survival of their
j
practices. Mediation may well be one
such technique.
Appendix
• Sample Mediation Clause
i
In the event that a dispute shall arise
; between the parties, the parties hereby
agree to participate in
hours (four or six hours is
recommended) of mediation in
accordance with the procedures of
(name of mediation company). The
parties agree to equally share the costs
of such mediation.
| *Brian H. MacMahon B.C.L. MSc.
(Mgmt), Solicitor is principal of
Arthur E. MacMahon,
Solicitors,
Naas, Co. Kildare.
382