Chief Justice Haynes Advises New Attorneys on Ethics and Accountability Amid Incoming Legislation

See clients fund and leave them alone.

That was the advice of Chief Justice Leslie Haynes SC during the admission of 53 new attorneys to the Bar at the Supreme Court.

Haynes urged the young attorneys to build a good reputation and maintain their dignity and worth but warned legislation in the form of an amended Legal Professions Act was on the way which would hold crooked attorneys to account.

“With the expected changes to the act, you will be held accountable when you fall below the expected standard,” he said.

“You must see clients’ funds and leave them alone. You must communicate with your clients and so gain a reputation for being responsive. There’s a saying that a reputation takes 20 years to build, but it only takes five minutes to ruin. I urge you, therefore, to consider the bill and submit any comments you may have to the president of the bar,” he said.

In addition, Haynes urged the attorneys not to turn their backs on criminal law, which he said honed the skills of many of the judges before them.

Attorney General Dale Marshall SC also spoke about the integrity of the profession. “Three or four bad apples have tainted the reputation of a profession that currently has over 1 000 practitioners on this island. We have to erase that taint; all of us. . . . . Your client is who is important; your interests are entirely secondary,” he said.