AN OPEN LETTER TO BARBADOS' CHIEF JUSTICE ON RAMPANT ATTORNEY MISCONDUCT

 

 

TO: Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham 

Whilst you warn Barbados' newest admitted members of the Bar, and admonish them to not consider their law licenses as their fast track to a "Get-Rich-Quick" scheme, you are, unfortunately, completely missing the point. Take a hard look at the names of the latest crop of attorneys. How many of them are the sons and grandsons of lawyers we have named and shamed on this blog as predatory and corrupt ? 

When I was sworn in as a young lawyer, fifty years ago, the presiding judge, mindful of the pending Watergate scandal, noted that lawyers have the greatest propensity for either good, or evil, and it is up to them to chose the proper path; Wise words.

Just where do you think that the money came from for their undergraduate and legal eductions, especially those which were obtained abroad ? How many of their immediate relatives are lawyers who have become senior government officials, members of the judiciary ? And how did they attain those lofty positions, we ask ? Through actual merit, or as a beneficiary of the corrupt power structure that rewards those who adopt the predatory methods and tactics of man Old Boy System which shares the proceeds of crime, covers up for their co-conspirators, and avoid liability for their sins.

Perhaps it is high time that a new class of lawyers come before the Bar, those interested in public service, in service to the people, and not focused on greed and avarice. Reform or perish, ladies and gentlemen. Disregard the old methods of fleecing clients, and live up to your professional oath. It is high time for a new breed of lawyer to appear in Barbados, an honest one.