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GAZETTE
MARCH 1978
alcohol in such a quantity as to impair to a dangerous
extent his capacity to drive safely. In the case of
Owens
v.
Brimmell
(1976) 3 All E.R. 765, the plaintiff passenger
was held in such circumstances to have contributed 20%
to the extent of his damage.
The decision of the Court of Appeal in
Spartan Steel d
Alloys Ltd. v Martin d Co. (Contractors) Ltd.
(1972) 3
All E.R. 557, followed the earlier decisions in disallowing
economic loss suffered by the plaintiff independent of the
physical damage occasioned by the defendant notwith-
standing that it was the forseeable and direct conse-
quence of the defendant's negligence.
Finally, the reader will find a brief dissertation on the
non-contractual or tortious liability of the European
Economic Community in the course of which the pessi-
mistic prognostication is made based on experience to
date that attempts by individuals to fix the Community
with liability for torts may well be doomed to failure from
the outset.
David R. Pigot
OFFICE MANAGEMENT
DAVID S. PORTER:
Profitable Management of a
Solicitor's Practice.
Published by Oyes Publishing.
Price £3.25.
The title of this work should be sufficient to stimulate the
interest of any practitioner, and the fact that the book is
written by a practitioner, and from a practitioner's point
of view, means that the natural reluctance of the amateur
to become emeshed in theoretical jargon is suitably
catered for.
In a period of rapid inflation, it is all too easy to be
lulled into a false sense of security by monitoring only the
increase in fee earnings without taking account of the
accompanying increase in running expenses. I have no
doubt that, over the past few years, many solicitors have
had a nasty shock when, months, if not years, after the
end of an accounting period, their auditor informs them
that, far from making a handsome profit, they have in fact
made a very small profit, or even a loss.
Those who read Mr. Porter's book, and assimilate even
part of its contents, have to hand a ready method of
insulating themselves from such shocks.
The use of these techniques does not require any
greater mathematical skill than the ability to add and
subtract with reasonable accuracy. In terms of peace of
mind arising from the knowledge that one is in possession
of accurate information as to how one's practice is
progressing, it is well worth acquiring the necessary skill.
Apart from the earlier chapters which deal with fore-
casting and budgeting, Mr. Porter deals concisely and
clearly with the subject of time costing, and leads on from
that to deal with computer applications to time costing,
and also to other aspects of solicitors' accounting.
This is a book which deserves to be widely read by the
solicitors' profession in Ireland, and may be usefully
referred to again and again for practical help in the
financial management of your practice.
Joseph L. Dundon
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
AN APPRICIATION
The tragic death on March 21st of Cearbhall Ó Dilaigh
whom we knew best as a Judge of the Supreme Court and as
Chief Justice leaves a deep void in contemporary Irish juris-
prudence. The impressive tributes already paid to him as a
Gaelic scholar, an eminent linguist, a Renaissance man of
culture, and a patron of the arts, have been fully deserved.
Perhaps, as I have known Cearbhall principally as a
lawyer for more than forty years, I may be allowed to pay a
more personal tribute. I still remember, when practising on
my own, briefing him with a fraud case in the Court of
Criminal Appeal which he correctly foretold we would lose.
It is remarkable how in the legal sphere the careers of Hugh
Kennedy, our first Chief Justice, who died suddenly in
1936, and Cearbhall, can be compared; they were both
eminent jurists of international status whose judgments,
written in masterly English are always quotable by jurists;
they both loved the Irish language, and they were both
intent on affirming emphatically the human rights of the
individual. Cearbhall had more opportunity to express his
trenchant views on the subject of the freedom of the
individual in view of the more detailed terms affirming
fundamentalrights contained in our current Constitution of
1937. He also had the advantage, with Mr. Justice Walsh
and the late Mr. Justice Budd, of commanding a liberal
majority in the Supreme Court. He was involved in many
important constitutional cases but such stirring sentences as
'"Hie claim made on behalf of the police to be entitled to
arrest a citizen and forthwith to bundle him out of the juris-
diction before he has an opportunity of considering his
rights is the negation of law and a denial of justice" (in
The
State (Quirm) v. Ryan
[1965] I.R. at p. 121), and in the
same case at p. 118, die words "In plain language, the
purpose of the police plan was to eliminate the Courts and
to defeat the rule of law as a factor in Government" will
never be forgotten.
The defence of Article 40, Clause 3, which this writer
considers the lynch-pin of the whole Constitution, as
expressed in
re Haughey
[1971] I.R. at p. 264, is
memorable. It will be recalled that, in that Clause, the State
not only guarantees, and as far as practicable by its laws to
defend and vindicate the personal rights of the citizen, but
also that the State shall, in particular, by its laws, protect as
best it may from uqjust attack, and, in the case of injustice
done, vindicate the life, person, good name and property
rights of every citizen. Chief Justice ó Dálaigh said that this
Clause was a guarantee to the citizen of basic fairness of
procedures. "The Constitution guarantees such fairness and
it is the duty of the Court to underline that the words of
Article 40, Clause 3, are not political shibboleths but
provide a positive protection for the citizen and his good
name."
It has already been stressed how lightly the late Cearbhall
ó Dálaigh carried his erudition. This writer can testify to the
fact that he often enjoyed informal chats with Cearbhall as a
Judge in his chambers. During our college days, I
occasionally joined Cearbhall and his wife, Mairin, on
mountain walks in Wicklow; subsequently my wife and I
were hospitably received by them in Kilquade and I have
vivid memories of the many kindnesses he extended to me as
a Judge of European Court in Luxembourg. These conver-
sations were most stimulating, as one never knew, from the
depths of his learning, to what profound subject Cearbhall
would next turn his attention.
My abiding memory of Cearbhall will always remain his
extreme approachability, and the invariable pleasure which
his stimulating conversation gave me. But a man like
Cearbhall who combined so many qualities in so many
spheres is irreplaceable, as a jurist, a scholar, and a public
figure of distinction. Our deepest sympathy is extended to
his devoted wife, Mairin, to his sisters, Una and Nuala, and
to his other relatives.
C.G.D.
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