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GAZETTE
w
B R I
APRIL 1993
JlJl' llilf 1
i Jt i
by Dr. Eamonn G. Hall
Barristers: An Endangered
Species
Readers must immediately be
informed that the phrase
"endangered species" did not
originate from Lawbrief, the
Editorial Board of the
Gazette
or the
Council of The Law Society. The
phrase appeared in a heading in
The
Independent,
(London) on Friday
February 26, 1993. UK management
consultants, Hodgart Temporal, were
quoted as stating that by the end of
the decade there may be only enough
work to sustain half of the 7,300
barristers now in private practice in
the UK.
Legal writer, Neasa MacErlean,
wrote in
The Independent
that as in
other business sectors, the recession
could exert its wasting effect on the
Bar. "Nobody knows what is going
to happen - certainly not the
Government," stated Martin Bowley
QC, treasurer of the UK Bar
Council. "This affects everything the
Bar is doing. It raises the whole
Question of accommodation . . . and
whether the Bar in the future is
going to remain as attractive to law
graduates."
Some barristers in England
considered that the Bar can
guarantee its survival only by
keeping up with the increasingly
Popular alternatives to litigation,
such as arbitration and alternative
dispute resolution. Some sets of
barristers have switched from the
traditional emphasis on the
individual to a team view. Some
describe their head of chambers as
chairman and have appointed
barristers to head their civil and
criminal departments.
D
avid Temporal of Hodgart
Temporal, Management Consultants,
who has advised clients both in
industry and the professions, was
quoted as saying that the most
unusual organisation he had ever
seen was the barristers' set or
chambers. He considered that some
barristers would be hampered as
managers by the same qualities that
brought them professional success.
"Traditional barristers' skills tend to
lead to confrontation and position-
taking." Mr. Temporal also said,
"Barristers can also be emotionally
childlike." He maintained they
manifest extremes often being
egotistic and also highly insecure.
"They tend not to trust anybody and
to think that others are earning more
money." These comments, of course,
apply not only to barristers; many
members of other professions would
fit the same picture.
The word from London is gloomy.
The word is that the Bar may haVe
to react dramatically if it is to avbid
a thin line between prosperity and
extinction.
Lawbrief
would add that in Ireland
there is little fear of the Irish Bar
becoming extinct. Nevertheless, when
England sneezes, Ireland catches a
cold. It may be a cliché, but change
is in the air and it will affect all of
us.
Subject to Contract
One of the most important
judgments of recent times in relation
to the sale of land and the law of
contract must be the judgment of
the Supreme Court in
Boyle
-v-
Lee
which has just been reported at
[1992]
1 Irish Reports,
555. The case
involved an interpretation of section
2 of the
Statute of Frauds, 1695
which provides, inter alia, that no
action shall be brought whereby to
charge any person, upon any
contract of sale of lands unless the
agreement upon which such action
shall be brought, or some
memorandum or note thereof, shall
be in writing and signed by the party
to be charged therewith or some
other person thereunto by him
lawfully authorised. Effectively, the
Supreme Court held that a note or
memorandum which contained the
expression "subject to contract" was
not sufficient for the purpose of
section 2 of the
Statute of Frauds
1695.
"One of the most important
judgments of recent times in
relation to the sale of land and
the law of contract must be the
judgment of the Supreme Court
in
Boyle -v- Lee."
The Chief Justice, with whom
Hederman J and O' Flaherty J
agreed in a concurring judgment,
and McCarthy J agreed in part, set
out the law which was agreed by the
majority of the court. The Chief
Justice stated that the requirements
of justice were that the law
applicable to the formation of
contracts for the purchase of land
should be as certain as it is possible
to make it. He noted that in modern
times, probably the most important
legal transaction a great number of
people make in their lifetimes is the
purchase or sale of their home. The
avoidance of doubt and, accordingly,
the avoidance of litigation
concerning such a transaction must
be a well worthwhile social objective
as far as the law is concerned. The
Chief Justice continued:
"ITlhe very definite statement that
a note or memorandum of a contract
made orally is not sufficient to satisfy
the Statue of Frauds unless it directly
or by very necessary implication
recognises, not only the terms to be
enforced, but also the existence of a
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