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GAZETTE
JULY/AUGUST 1985
BOOK REVIEW
Personal Injury Litigation — Practice and Precedents by
Iain S. Goldrein and Margaret R. de Haas. Butterworths,
1985. Hani cover £28 Stg.
The Publisher's blurb claims that this book "is a highly
practical reference source which includes all relevant
precedents, charts, check-lists and details of legal aid". It
is not an exaggerated claim in relation to English legal
principles and practices. The book is divided into seven
parts dealing with: the body of law and the Practice and
Procedure relating to Personal Injuries; Fatal Accidents
Practice and Procedure; Motor Insurance — Third Party
Rights; Pre-Trial Practice; Costs and Legal Aid Cases.
Part VII contains twelve Appendices — the last two deal
with the medical drawings and glossary of medical terms
which are concise and very useful.
The extent to which a continued assessment of damages
by Juries in our jurisdiction has led to a divergence
between the English and Irish practice is not easily
quantifiable but undoubtedly if Jury assessments are
abolished following the strong lobby to do so, the
framework of law and practice of the English system will
become more relevant here and this book can be a useful
guideline for our practitioners and any academic who
may wish to produce a similar guide for the Irish system.
There is divergence between the two systems in
procedural matters which are noteworthy. In England
actuarial evidence is used as a secondary method of
calculating future loss. The multiplier/multiplicand
method is applied primarily; as a secondary method an
Actuary and an Accountant may to a limited degree
provide the Judge with a means of cross checking his
calculation and in arriving at the appropriate multiplier.
Because of inflationary pressure there has been a growing
pressure in the English jurisdiction for the introduction of
actuarial evidence. The multipliers traditionally adopted
by the Courts were based on the assumption that the
principal sum of damage would earn interest at about 5%.
This very issue was argued in the case of
Cooke
-v-
Walsh
[1984] ILRM 208 and the Supreme Court confirmed the
High Court ruling that in Infant cases the discount be
reduced to 2'/
2
%. However, the victory has been short
lived because due to reduction in inflation Actuaries are
now adopting a 4% discount rate. The strict control of
other expert evidence in the English system compels the
Practitioner there to apply stringent proofs in processing
the client's claim. Expert evidence is excluded if it is an
expression of an opinion which the Judge is capable of
forming without recourse to such expertise. The practice
of automatic directions requiring the discovery of
documents within 14 days and if expert evidence is relied
on, the disclosure of the substance of that evidence within
10 weeks in the form of a written Report to be agreed if
possible between the parties, may be applicable here if
and when Juries are abolished. The procedure for interim
payments could be applied with benefit in our system at
this stage and the development of the American system of
structured settlements could easily be incorporated by a
development of the existing English rules of Court.
The most attractive feature of this book is the succinct
and straightforward explanation of the legal principles
involved together with Rules of Practice and the guidance
offered by the Courts on procedural points, in decided
cases which are set out in the text under the relevant
headings and not in the rather tedious manner of
footnotes which may suit the academic or practitioner
gifted with exceptional eyesight. Anyone interested in the
current debate about the necessity of improving our legal
system in relation to Personal Injury claims will find this a
most valuable text.
•
Franklin O'Sullivan
Young Lawyers International
Association
A I J A
The Annual Congress for the Year 1985
will take place
at Lisbon
on
24th-28th September
The topics for discussion are as follows:—
1. Legal Protection of Software.
2. The removal of minors from one jurisdiction
to another.
3. The legal status of company directors, their
civil and criminal responsibilities.
4. Free movement of goods within the EEC.
Anyone interested please contact:
Michael Irvine,
Matheson Ormsby & Prentice,
20 Upper Merrion Street,
Dublin 2.
Tel: 760981
Telex: 24333
209