Lawyer’s law goes public
(CNS): The Cayman Islands premier has said that, after twenty years of continuous complaints regarding the inequalities faced by Caymanians in local law firms, his government is committed to pushing through a modernized legal practitioner’s bill early in the New Year to manage the legal profession and protect local lawyers. In a statement about the new draft bill, which is now open for public review, McKeeva Bush said it “must be the basis of any representations made” during the consultation process. In the face of a drawn out impasse between legislators and lawyers, he said the continuation of the status quo was not in the best interest of the country or the legal profession.
Over two years ago the attorney general held a meeting with members of the Cayman Islands Law Society, the Caymanian Bar Association, members of the Legislative Assembly and other attorneys to discuss the status and implementation of the proposed Legal Practitioners Bill.
Bush said that there was a failure to reach any consensus at that meeting as legislators were unwilling to further any discussions on the bill without a resolution to the historic conflicts within the profession regarding the training, advancement and integration of Caymanians within firms. In addition, there were concerns from local attorneys about some law firms exporting Cayman legal jobs abroad to satellite offices, which they fear could one day see all Cayman legal services provided from other countries.
Since then, Theresa Pitcairn and Sherri Ann Bodden-Cowan have been reviewing the Legal Practitioners Bill and they have now produced a draft bill which, Bush said, represents the culmination of some ten years of discussion.
"For over 20 years now, Caymanians have been complaining to their elected representatives and various immigration boards about the lack of equal training, integration and advancement opportunities within the firms, and they are still doing so,” Bush said in a statement released to accompany the proposed law.
He said that while government was seeking to protect young Caymanians, he warned that business must be able to function efficiently and successfully. “We have to strive for a balance, and make sure business is also sufficiently protected, for Cayman to survive. There are other jurisdictions that will be only too happy to get some of our business, so the government will find the right balance, recognizing amongst other factors that the practice of law, like most other areas of business, is now a global phenomenon.”
Bush said that the major offshore firms have lobbied governments as far back as 2003 to modernise the Legal Practitioners Law so that the profession can be regulated and policies can be developed to facilitate the continued growth and prosperity of the industry.
“These firms tell the politicians that they cannot expect to get instructions without an office in foreign jurisdictions; that same time zone, 'same day' advice is a must so that it is in Cayman’s best interest to be able to service international business with law firm offices in such overseas jurisdictions,” Bush said, adding that the chief justice and the attorney general also want to see the law changed so that the profession can be properly regulated.
The premier said that once the consultation process was complete, he would hold discussions with the Cayman Bar Association and the Law Society before he put the consultation papers to Cabinet for the approval of a green bill, to be sent to the Legislative Assembly for passage.
“While the granting of articles has improved since 2009, with Maples alone giving 48 article clerkships, of paramount importance to a new law is provision for article clerkships. Access to article clerkships and upward progression of any willing, able and qualified Caymanian attorney and the future success of our financial services and law firms is my aim and objective,” Bush stated.
Feedback should be submitted directly to Teresa Pitcairn at jonanter@candw.ky no later than Friday 11 January.
See the draft bill, regulations and the premier’s full statement below.
Category: Local News
These comments are hilarious. As an American lawyer having to deal with the "elite" Cayman lawyers, I find such attestations of skill and expertise ridiculous. The Cayman big firm lawyers are some of the laziest I've ever encountered. The purpose of this bill is to make sure that they continue to make money by elbowing out other lawyers who might care more or work harder than they do. The Cayman locals should ship all these carpetbaggers back home.
It is just right to have some sort of training for these lawyers because the future of Cayman business investments is in their hands. They play a major role in the upliftment of these businesses.
It was good to see that there was so much input in the draft from lawyers with years of experience of the management needs of an international firm. Combined partnership experience of international work on the bill reviewing pattern – zero years.
And why is it ghat those three excellent Caymanian lawyers to whom you refer have been deprived of any such experience?
I know of many excellent Caymanian lawyers, but I really can't work out to whom you could be referring.
Ezzard and Arden is opposing this law. I'm curious what does Alden the Leader of the pPM have to say about it? Its very important that he as a lawyer is not saying anything on such a crucial matter!!!
The legal practitioners law should not contain any compromising aspects that the majority of their proposal is imposed while Caymanian Lawyers come up short again with having nothing to hold onto like the law on their sidel
While this seems like music to some people 's ears; can Theresa or Cheri explain just how these law firms will be mandated to hire grass roots Caymanians as opposed to paper Caymanians who are always favored and our native attorneys are always rejected.
No sense passing any law until a law is passed to protect and uphold the right to live, work, and exist, (enjoying) life liberty and prosperity as a born Caymanian in these islands.
these pirates will find a way to work around even this law and the system.Already
they are beating the work permit system obtaining property by deception.
The plan is to sed Caymanian lawyers abroad out of their way under the guise of getting experience, while they push through work permits of expats and offer them equitable partherships.
We are going to have a lot to say about this law and maybe Arden and Ezzard do have a point. It seems government will be losing a lot of revenue in comany fees and also other fees if they allow the Law society to swing them their way.
Mr. Bush needs to explain more clearly just what he plans to do for Caymanian lawyers in this legal practitioners bill. Not enough saie. As a matter of fact he saie quite abit on behalf of the big law firms and merely mentioned the struggling lawyers at the end according to the press release.This is troubling.
Replies on a postcard to Pitcairn at her home address? Seriously?
Why do we even bother to have a Govt Legal Dept?
Anyone working in the legal profession should be measured on their merits and abilities, rather than where they were born.
This "protection" of Caymanians means that we are protecting both the good and the bad in the industry. The "good" of course don't need protecting – they will shine by themselves and typically have done VERY well for themselves.
So what are we left protecting? Those people with a minor qualification and a little experience who fancy themselves as "leading" lawyers. Insisting that the legal profession employ both the good and the bad will only undermine the quality of the profession.
Government should leave market forces to work and not try and dictate. It will simply reduce the quality of the legal profession. Look at the reputation of Bahamas lawyers if you want to see the results of a closed legal profession.
ANOTHER OWN GOAL.
This law was greeted with great applause in Jersey and the other Crown Dependencies.
No it wasn’t It would instantly cause any persons in the crown dependancies who are the secret owners of Cayman firms to face substantial fines and criminal sanction. It will also cause problems for any who are practicing Cayman Law without a practising certificate.
There are good and bad Caymanian lawyers, I agree.
But if you accept a number are good, can you please explain why not a single one of the good has been made a partner of a major Cayman Law firm for more than 15 years?
And anyone breaching Cayman Islands Laws should be penalized even if they are a lawyer.
Section 24(b) will be the end of articled clerkships if it goes ahead as drafted. Every firm will breach it. No firm has a practice in all of those areas. Typically half-baked legislation. It is none of the business of the government or anyone frankly which areas of practice are offered at each firm beyond ensuring a minimum standard which permits an articled clerk to practise as an attorney once qualified. Capacity, specialisation, fee earner deployment, team structure, training experience and strategic goals are all things that are internal to a firm that have a massive impact on what programme it can offer. We mustn't forget also that the prospective articled clerk makes their own choice what sort of law they might like to practise by picking a particular firm, and firms consider applications partly on the basis of whether the applicant shows an aptitude and appreciation for the work the firm does. That is all as it should be. If you standardise the programme, you make it even harder for firms to do what they're being told they must – train with all they've got. The profession must make this known to the right people.
I can’t help but wonder how much these ladies have been paid to produce this Bill. Doesn’t the CI Government have a legal draftsman? Shouldn’t the Attorney General have taken the lead on this? At the very least shouldn’t public feedback go the AG’s Chambers rather than someone’s personal email?
My mommy said I could be anything I wanted, and now that I have a poor quality pass from CILS I WANT TO BE A LAWYER SO MAKE IT SO!
I hope your Mommy also told you that a hungry man/woman is an angry man/woman and nothing last forever not even SA apartheid.
Comparing Cayman to apartheid South Africa with born Caymanians in the role of the discriminated against black man shows you either have no understanding of apartheid or no sense of proportion. Think what you are saying! There are some minor comparisons – under apartheid blacks couldnt vote, had no enforceable rights, could be discriminated against by their employer at will without recourse (but of course those examples are somewhat contrary to your argument!)- but even if one accepts the view that Caymanians are discriminated against, rather than for, in the workplace, how can you begin to draw a comparison to the appalling human rights abuses that went on in SA with the situation in Cayman. Really!
Actually, it goes like this: My mentor told immigration I could be a lawyer and I got a 2.1 Honours degree from the University of Liverpool. Then my mentor got key employee and hired an expatriate junior lawyer but called them a paralegal in order to get a work permit. There was no longer a role for me so i went and became a real estate agent. There’s other lawyers I know applied for jobs, but immigration was not even told about one of the applicants and all were denied because work is slow. Meanwhile 10 Chinese lawyers are employed in Hong Kong to do work I was doing and all the profits from that went to people living in England.
Careful to compare apples with apples – a non Caymanian lawyer has to have 3 years post qualification experience to work in the Islands; this is typically gained in a leading law firm in a major financial centre. You can not directly compare this often extensive experience and knowledge to a recently articled local lawyer. One of Cayman strengths is its excellence in the legal profession and care must be given to ensure to its skills, experience and capabilities continue to grow.
How true, you must recognise what a Cayman law degree actually is!
Most of the legal partners in Cayman learned their trade not just in university, but in practice in leading edge environments. You must not expect that a law degree gained from the local law school equates to that, it doesnt. If you then go out in the world and earn that next stage, you will get there, add to that level of experience the fact that you are Caymanian, and you know you will get what you deserve.
My experience includes hiring people with law degrees from all over the place, London, Toronto, New Zealand and more including Cayman. The one Caymanian I hired expected everything, and now, the others knew they had to earn it, but if you had taken the Cayman element out of it and judged all on their merits, seriously I wouldnt have taken on the Cayman candidate in this particular case. The same was true of accountants, the Cayman candidates were CPA's, not CA's, and the difference is enormous. Why not train to be the best, why take the easiest path? Well the answer is that the immigration department thinks a Caymanian CPA is the same or better than a Scottish CA, so why bother?
And thats the difference, if you bother you get the gravy, if you think the world owes it to you, you will get as much as you deserve!
I recognize perfectly well what a Cayman Law degree is. it is an English Law Degree from an English University. Is that not what you have?
Your claim is just a lot of malarky, we all know that many of these so called expert expat lawyers only gained the required experience upon their arrived in Cayman when inhouse training was given in the area of law that they were hired to practice. Upon their arrival on island many were not even half as good as some and many of our article clerks. Let it continue until the people of Cayman wisen up like they did in Bermuda and Bahamas.
16:55, I just love your idea that these lawyers come from abroad wth very impressive qualifications and years of experience and with a massive work permit fee paid by their employer, only to come here and be really taught what law is about by Caymanians with qualifications from the local Law School and/or article clerks. This country is going to disappear under the complete crap of ignorant people like yourself spouting, year after dreary year, this dreadful nonsense and, alas, it will eventually leave many decent Caymanians who do not have your twisted anti foreigner views wondering why Cayman has suddenly gone back into financial depression. And, by the way, "wisen up" is not Standard English, an essential ingredient in communicating in the professional services such as accounting, teaching, law, medical, civil service etc etc.. NowI've got that off my chest, I think I'll go fishening.
Were plane doors designed for your arse, or is that just coincidence?
Ah, the mythical training in "Cayman law". I received none. Needed none. There really isn't any. That is the point. A quick skim through some statutes and precedents for the corporate guys or a whizz through some rules that have not changed in decades for the litigators and "voila" you are an expert on Cayman law. By the way don't tell anyone. It is our little secret to keep the fees sky high.
You needed none right up until you are arrested for serious breaches of the immigration laws and your clients are closed down for the fronting structures you set up for them. Meanwhile your sending of confidentiall client data to your home office without their consent is exposing you to investigation under the Confidential Relationships Preservation Law and your fiddling of valuations in relation to stamp duty filings has raised the attention of the Auditor General, and you are suddenly involved in a corruption investigation.
You are sio right, I had to learn how I could not employ the best person for the job, how there was serious impediments to foreign capital investment, how Cayman had protected its secrecy jurisdiction status with an impenetrable secrecy criminal statute and how taxes were imposed on a discriminatory and illegal basis. But that only took about 10 minutes.
So you mean you have not bee providing adequate training to your article clerks and junior lawyers? Sorry, I thought you were because you reported you were ON OATH to immigration and to others!
Put it through!
I am surprised that the proposed dispute resolution mechanisms do not include "Meeting To Discuss Matters Forcefully In The Office Car Park After Work".
Just remember folks! Elections are just around the corner!
So "HERE COME THE PROMISES"
If only the Immigration Law had been enforced!
The rights of Caymanians fell by the wayside at the same time as the protection law, now it's the immigration laws and the guaranteed rights of everyone else.
Actually, the rights of Caymanians are still in the Law – but no one will enforce it.
Now the pendulum swings back. Not surprising given the excesses of the past decade.
Surprise Surprise, now that Mac no longer needs the big firms cash he can support this bill, but when Theresa herself was fighting her legal battle he stood by and did nothing. I guess DART is good for something, he ensures that our Govt isn’t representing the interests of anyone else but DART. 20 years it took to correct this “imbalance” ??? Mac weren’t you leader during a few of those terms?
Just as the recruitment agencies can come into Cayman and dry up all the jobs for the average Caymanians with outsourcing the jobs to their mostly (with a token few Caymanian) expat staff. Until this is corrected, the same should apply to Lawyers. Cayman laws should be practiced in any other jurisdiction until the entire immigration/labour issue in this country is addressed what is good for the goose should be good for the gander. The next issue is that any Caymanian (status or birth) should be able to run for political office.