Indications for the extraction of permanent healthy teeth in dentofacial orthopedics, has been an object of polarized debate between extractionists and nonextractionist since the beginning of the twentieth century.

In a media-hyped environment, where extractions have become routine, this concern that is not addressed during consultation, poses a problem for the patient-practitioner relationship. The practitioner is confronted with a criminal liability known as a failure to respect the physical integrity of the human body and to treat in the patient's best interest. But the question remains: is it ethical to extract healthy teeth?

The lecture begins by outlining the differences in lifetime earnings between men and women, and between women with different levels of skill and with different numbers of children. It continues with a discussion on wrongful conception and wrongful birth, and the legal implications when damages are sought when children are born who were not meant to have been born. Many examples of claims for damages brought before the courts, over a period of time, are used to illustrate various aspects of this. Cases concerning both healthy and disabled children are discussed, and the changes that occur for all women who have given birth and the mother's responsibility of care are considered.

Company directors play a key role in any company and thus in the contribution which business makes to the economy and to society. Reform of company law is being actively debated. This places under the spotlight such questions as should directors' duties be made clearer? Should directors only owe duties to their shareholders? Are directors adequately monitored, for example in corporate activities, pay and political donations? The object of the lecture is to review areas of current debate and identify areas where changes are occurring or may occur.

The lecture discusses the issue of actuarial evidence in personal injury cases, and how the courts have been diffident towards actuarial evidence and the utility and importance of actuarial expertise. Until recently lawyers have not understood the ways in which actuaries work with probabilities. The lecture then shows that now the law has adopted actuarial thinking in several significant ways, and in particular in damages and personal injury cases. The discount rate for calculating the multiplier for future loss is discussed, as is the new area of risk assessment and conditional fees. Lawyers need actuarial help where appropriate, and both face the daily problem of applying the laws of probability to human activity.

The lecture considers the subject of arbitration as a means of determining otherwise irreconcilable disputes. Although arbitration may be required over a wide range of subjects, the lecturer's considerable experience has been in the area of construction. He outlines how arbitration was carried out in the 1950s and the relationship between arbitrators and arbitrations and the courts. Since that time there have been radical changes to improve the system, and these are described, particularly the various Acts of Parliament relevant to the subject. The lecturer concludes that currently construction arbitration is in good heart, but that too much paper is still being generated.