The Gazette 1993

OCTOBER 1993

In the chapter on insurance some of

the statistical information produced is

quite startling such as

• Of £100 premium paid almost £50

is spent on administration by the

insurance company.

• Motor insurance in Ireland produced

profit every year but one from '79

to '89.

• Overwhelmingly, the average cost

of insurance settled claims in

Ireland is less than £2,500.

In summary this book is and should

become an indispensable handbook

for employers, employees, trade union

officials, insurance claims handlers,

safety officers, personnel officers,

solicitors, barristers and both

professors and students of the law of

employers' liability and safety in

industry, to all of whom it is strongly

recommended. All of these people and

in particular the legal profession owe

I a very considerable debt of gratitude

to Mr McGarr for having produced

what this reviewer considers to be an

indispensable publication in this area

of human activity and law and in

particular for the benefit of the

workforce in all types of employment

in this country.

Bruce St. John Blake

Havers' Companion to The

Bar 1993/1994

(Third Edition), Edited by Patti

Havers, Havers' Directories Limited,

Distributed World-Wide by Sweet &

Maxwell, £85 Sterling, hardback, 1993.

Lord Havers, the former Lord High

Chancellor of Great Britain, notes in the

foreword that the independent practising

Bar, in addition to providing a corps of

skilled and experienced advocates,

offers a quite remarkable pool of

specialist legal advice and expertise on

I virtually any aspect of the law which is

available to any firm of solicitors and to

many other professionals who now have

approved direct access to the Bar. He

| notes that the well-researched and com-

piled

Companion to the Bar

provides

invaluable information about the UK

Bar and the services offered by individ-

ual barristers to an extent never before

attempted or available. In short, it is the

indispensable reference work for all who

use and wish to make the most of the

expertise available of those who practise

at the Bar of England and Wales.

The writer of this short notice

; appreciates that the Irish Bar is much

j more limited in scope than the Bar of

I England and Wales. But there is merit

| in compiling a similar companion

j although some may argue that the

Directory of the

Law Society

provides

general information on Irish barristers.

It is trite to say that lawyers like

members of other professions are under

i difficult pressures for ever greater

quality of service. In the introduction to

the book, the writer notes that the break-

down of domestic restrictive practices

will accentuate these pressures. In the

j United Kingdom, the Bar has relaxed its

rules restricting advertising and has

permitted barristers to supply

information about themselves, their

experience and practices. Many would

I disagree with that philosophy in this

jurisdiction but the Bar in England and

Wales has adopted a cautious reaction

to these changes because it is a

profession that has a strong tradition

| against "touting" for work.

Havers'

Companion to the Bar

provides

extensive individual biographical

! profiles; apparently it is the key

J ingredient of the most successful legal

| directories in the United States and will

be increasingly seen by the Bar, who

supply the information, and solicitors

i and others, as essential to a successful

| and dynamic referral system in a

! changing competitive environment.

i Every barrister practising in chambers

| in England and Wales is invited

annually to provide as much

information about himself or herself as

he or she wants. The individual

biographies are entered completely free

of charge. Of course, the individual

biographies are not objective but they

do provide a wealth of information.

Readers may be interested in what is

called the "Cab-Rank Rule" which is

referred to in the

Companion.

The rule

is that every barrister is under an

important professional obligation to

accept any brief to appear for any lay

client provided he or she is available

and the case is within his or her field of

practice.

Until recently, barristers in England and

Wales were permitted to accept

instructions to represent clients only

from solicitors. Solicitors continue to be

the main source of a barrister's work

and indeed only a solicitor can brief a

barrister to appear in court. But

barristers who so choose, however, are

now permitted to accept instructions

directly from members of a large

number of other professions for

advisory, tribunal and arbitration work,

subject to certain conditions and

restrictions. This is known as "Direct

Professional Access". The organisations

include:

• The Chartered Association of

Certified Accountants;

• The Incorporated Society of Valuers

and Auctioneers;

• The Institute of Chartered

Accountants;

• The Institute of Taxation;

• The Institute of Mechanical

Engineers;

• The Faculty of Actuaries;

• The Institute of Electrical Engineers

and a host of others.

Previous reviews have stated that not

only is this a great Directory but a good

read. Others have noted that for

solicitors and other professional

litigators, it will probably become the

standard directory: the detail and clarity

will be hard to equal. There is no doubt

that this is an impressive work; it is also

fascinating for those who have any

dealings with English lawyers. Five

thousand English biographies of

barristers in practice in England and

Wales are included. It deals with

barristers who work in over 200 fields

of practice.

To sum up,

Havers' Companion to the

Bar,

is a compendium of information

invaluable for those who deal with

English clients who seek advice in

England and Wales in relation to

litigation and other aspects of specialist

legal advice.

I Dr. Eamonn G. Hall

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