Barbados Legal Profession Faces Amendments and Accountability, Attorney General Urges New Lawyers for Ethical Practice

Important amendments to the Legal Professions Act – the first major re-examination in 50 years – have been sent to the Barbados Bar Association by the Law Reform Commission for review, Attorney General Dale Marshall said on Friday.

And Chief Justice Leslie Haynes has put attorneys on notice that the changes will see them being held accountable.

They were speaking as they addressed the hearing for admission of 53 lawyers to practise law in Barbados, at the Supreme Court Complex.

Noting that the profession had come in for heavy criticism in recent times due to the “dishonest” behaviour of some attorneys who had been charged and jailed, Marshall urged the group of new lawyers to help erase any negative beliefs about attorneys.

“Lawyers have always been maligned. More often than not, unfairly so. But well-publicised incidents involving attorneys and their handling of client’s money – generally involving jail terms – have served to even further cement the perception commonly held that lawyers are dishonest. Three or four bad apples have tainted the reputation of a profession that currently has over 1 000 practitioners in this island. We have to erase that taint; all of us!” the attorney general declared.

Telling the new lawyers that they had a responsibility to handle their clients’ matters with “dispatch”, he expressed regret that this was not always the case.

“You are engaged to provide a service to a client. For that service, you are entitled to a fair fee, nothing more. You serve the client, and you must do so to the best of your ability. And if you cannot handle a matter, be courageous enough to admit that it is beyond your skill set and either ask the client to go elsewhere, or seek advice from an attorney who has those skills. Your client is important; your interests are entirely secondary,” he advised.

Marshall’s sentiments were echoed by the chief justice, who told the new lawyers to ensure that their reputation was above reproach.

“You must see clients’ funds and leave them alone. Communicate with your clients and gain a reputation for being responsive. There is a saying that a reputation takes 20 years to build, but it only takes five minutes to ruin,” he said.

Highlighting that considerations of the new Legal Professions Act were “well advanced”, Haynes said: “The time is ripe for us to consider the requirements for admission to our local bar as well as – in some instances, more importantly – the process by which those who have gone astray are removed. The present provisions for the profession to maintain its accountability and defend its processes are cumbersome and outdated.”

“We, as the judiciary of Barbados, urge you who are being admitted to the bar today to stay within acceptable lines of conduct. With the expected changes to the Act, you will be held accountable when you fall below the accepted standard,” he further warned the group.

Meantime, Marshall noted that while a varied group of people had been admitted to the Bar on Friday, very few had expressed a willingness to practise criminal law. He said that over the years, the judges had bemoaned the “very evident” unwillingness to practise criminal law.

“I urge that more of you consider the practice of law on the criminal side. We have invested large amounts of public funds in increasing the number of criminal courts from two just six years ago to eight, today. We have also increased the number of prosecutors in the DPP’s Office by more than 100 per cent. We now hope to see an increase in the number of persons practising,” the attorney general said. (BGIS/JB)