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,
i
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
j
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
j
Directory of the
Law Society
provides
general information on Irish barristers.
j
It is trite to say that lawyers like
j
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
j
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
j
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
310