The Gazette 1988

GAZETT Viewpoint Civil Legal A id

SEPTEMBER 1988

GAZETTE

INCORPORATE D LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND Vol. 82 No. 1September 1!

In this Issue I V i ewp o i nt Taxa t i on As p e c ts of Forestry I nves tment Wh a t are t hey saying From the President Jo i nt Legal Education Conference

basis in these t owns merely results in an inadequate service to their inhabitants while diluting the service available at other full-time centres. It is even more wo r r y i ng to note t hat t he Centres in Tralee, A t h l one and Tallaght and t he second Cork Centre wh i ch have been f i nanced under the Funds of Suitors Acts are not guaranteed to be f unded after t he end of 1989, by wh i ch t i me their source of f und i ng will have dried up. While t he pessimism of t he Report is clearly justified, it should not hide the valuable wo rk b e i ng d o ne u n d er m o s t unsa t i s f ac t o ry cond i t i ons by t he Board's dedicated staff. In the year under review, 1,939 cases were taken to Court and there were 9 , 5 64 incidents on wh i ch advice was given, largely in t he d i f f i cu lt and t i me c on s um i ng area of family law. • Counsel involved must have passed up many lucrative briefs during t he 4 7 days t hat t he case was at hearing in the High Court while t he c omm i t me nt of t i me and e f f o rt by t he f i rm of solicitors concerned, relatively mode st in size by current Dublin standards, mu st have put considerable strain on its day to day operation. It is be c au se so l i c i t o rs and barristers have been prepared to take on litigation for people of mode st means, relying largely on t h e h o pe of s u c c e ss w i t h consequent payment of cos ts by the losing Defendant, t hat t he great majority of personal injury cases in particular have been brought t o our Courts. In a c oun t ry w h i ch clearly cannot a f f o rd a comp r ehens i ve C i v il Legal A i d S c h e me t h e con t i nuance of this practice is obviously essential. Concern has been expressed by t he Chairman of t he Bar Council t hat t he proposed cu r t a i lment of t he number of Counsel in personal injury cases may make it very Contd. on pogo 207.

The Report of the Civil Legal A id Board for 1986 makes more t han unusually melancholy reading. As in their earlier Reports t he Board d r aws a t t en t i on to t he delay in establishing t he s cheme on a stat- utory basis — draft legislation is on the way we are told — t o t he over- wh e l m i ng emphasis on family law cases r e s u l t i ng in t he v i r t ual exclusion of all other areas of law f r om the Board's operation and to the problems created by t he Public Service embargo. The most disappointing aspect of the Report is that the planned estab- lishment of Law Centres in Dundalk, Letterkenny, Portlaoise and Castle- bar has been pos t poned f o l l ow i ng a Government decision to shelve the projects. Each of these sizeable t owns is 5 0 miles or more f r om the nearest Law Centre and t he pro- vision of services on a part-time Buck i ng the System Mu ch has been w r i t t en about t he recent Hanrahan -v- Merck Sharpe & Dohme case, m u c h of it portraying t he Plaintiff as a David f i gh t i ng not only t he Goliath of t he Defendants but also ' t he System'. What has received far less publicity — perhaps because it clouds t he image of Mr. Hanrahan as an individual f i gh t i ng against over- w h e l m i ng odds, or a possible reluctance on t he part of t he media t o portray lawyers as any t h i ng other t han money-grabbing — is t he f act t hat t he case could not have been taken and f o u g ht to its successful conc l us i on if solicitors and counsel for the Plaintiff had not been prepared to undertake t he c a se f o r h i m on a l a r g e ly speculative basis. In t r u th ' t he system', t hat is t he traditional willingness of lawyers to undertake litigation on behalf of individuals w h o do not have t he resources t o pay t he cost t h at w i ll be incurred on t he individual's behalf, has been s h own t o wo r k in this case in t he highest degree. The

197 1 99 2 03 2 05 2 06 2 09 2 11 2 12 2 15 2 19 2 23 2 25

Costs Comm i t t ee Practice Notes

.

Whe re Are They Now?

People & Places Housing Finance

Book Review

Correspondence Ma r ac y c le ' 8 8

Professional I n f o rma t i on 2 28 Cover: Edward McParland, Irish Architectural Archive with the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ben Briscoe, T.D.

Executive Editor: Mary Gaynor Committee: Geraldine Clarke, Chairman

Seamus Brennan John F. Buckley Gary Byrne Michael Carrigan Eamonn G. Hall James J. Hickey

Nathaniel Lacy Frank Lanigan Charles R. M. Meredith Desmond Moran Daire Murphy John Schutte Maxwell Sweeney

Advertising: Liam 0 hOisin. Telephone: 305236 307860 Printing: Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford. The views expressed in this publication, save where otherwise indicated, are the views of the contributors and not necessarily the views of the Council of the Society. The appearance of an advertisement in this publication does not necessarily indicate approval by the Society for the product or service advertised. Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7. Tel.: 7 1 0 7 1 1. Telex: 3 1 2 1 9. Fax: 7 1 0 7 0 4.

195