Max Abrahamson (29 October 1932 – 7 October 2018) was an Irish lawyer, internationally recognized as an expert in construction law.

Background

Abrahamson was the son of Tillie (née Nurock) and surgeon

Leonard Abrahamson Leonard Abrahamson (April 29, 1896 - 1961), known as 'the Abe', was an Irish surgeon specialising in cardiology. Born in Odessa, Ukraine, he was, from the 1920s to the 1960s, described as the "natural leader of the Jewish community" in Ireland. E ...

, whose Jewish families left Eastern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. His father was a

Ukrainian Jew The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Some of the most important Jewish religious and ...

from

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

. Following his education at

Sandford Park School Sandford Park School is an independent, non-denominational, co-educational secondary school, located in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1922. History The school was founded in 1922 by Alfred Le Peton, who served as its first head ...

, Dublin, Max Abrahamson entered

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in 1949 where he was elected a Trinity Scholar. He qualified as a solicitor in 1955.Obituary Irish Times, 9 February 2019

Career

There was very little work for lawyers in the very economically- depressed Ireland of the 1950s and he supplemented his earnings by lecturing engineering students in contract law in Trinity College. This led to this becoming his area of special expertise. He later lectured at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, and in China.Irish Times 30 April 2012, ''Still Building on a Long Career in Irish Law''
/ref> In 1965 he published ''Engineering Law and the ICE nstitution of Civil EngineersContract''. It became known as "the engineers' bible" throughout the world. He later developed the "Abrahamson Principles" first published in 1973. This was a theory to allocate risk in construction contracts. These principles were to become widely used internationally. Over the course of his career he consulted in over 60 countries. He consulted on major projects in Ireland such as the

Jack Lynch Tunnel The Jack Lynch Tunnel (Irish: ''Tollán Sheáin Uí Loingsigh'') is an immersed tube tunnel and an integral part of the N40 road network in Cork, Ireland. It is named after former Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, a native of Cork. It takes the road ...

, the West Link Toll Bridge, the International Financial Services Centre, and outside of Ireland the Heathrow rail tunnel, Eurodisney, the Bahrain Causeway and various projects in Asia and Africa.

Legal philosophy

Abrahamson was a strong proponent of the elimination or narrowing of the distinction between barrister and solicitor, and bemoaned the fact that solicitors had become excessively adversarial. Both of these views stemmed from his belief that the good of the client must come first. A computer buff, he urged solicitors to embrace computing in their work or lose out to those who would. The Law Society awards the Max Abrahamson Award annually to the student who receives the highest mark in the non-adversarial dispute resolution module of their exams.

Artistic work

Abrahamson sculpted in clay and had bronze works exhibited at the RHA. He also did wood carving in his office to relieve the working day. His masterpiece as a woodcarver was an interpretation of

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

's ''

Napoleon Crossing the Alps ''Napoleon Crossing the Alps'' (also known as ''Napoleon at the Saint-Bernard Pass'' or ''Bonaparte Crossing the Alps''; listed as ''Le Premier Consul franchissant les Alpes au col du Grand Saint-Bernard'') is a series of five oil on canvas e ...

''.

Publications

* Abrahamson, Max, ''Engineering Law and the ICE Contract''. 1965 (fourth edition, 2003) * Abrahamson, Max W., "Risk Management" (1983) in ''International Construction Law Review'' 241,244.

References

Irish Jews 1932 births Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent People educated at Sandford Park School 2018 deaths {{DEFAULTSORT:Abrahamson, Max