Obituary: Former Justice Priya Levers 1946-2014

Priya Levers

(CNS): Priya Levers, who was the first woman to serve on the Cayman Islands Grand Court bench, died on Christmas Eve aged 68 at home surrounded by her family. Levers came to the Cayman Islands from Jamaica and began serving as a full-time judge in 2003. Originally from Sri Lanka, she moved to Jamaica when she married and practiced law for almost three decades before she settled in the Cayman Islands.

Despite the consequences of a controversial tribunal that resulted in her removal from the local bench in 2010, she remained in Cayman. Although the hearing resulted in Levers being removed, during her time on the Grand Court Bench she presided over a number of complex and sensitive cases and made a number of precedent setting rulings.

Priyadarshini Ananda Nadarajah-Levers was born on 18 March 1946. She was the daughter of KC Nadarajah, a well-known lawyer who practiced at various times in Sri Lanka, London and Bermuda, ultimately becoming a member of the Bermudian judiciary. Educated at Benenden School in Kent, Levers obtained her BA from the London School of Economics and an LLB from University of London. She was called to the bar by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple (the same Inn as her father and later her son).

Levers practiced in London from 1970 to 1975 before moving to Bermuda, where she became the first female crown counsel. It was there she met her husband, Aurelio “Laker” Levers, in 1977 while he was managing the Jamaican National Cricket team on one of their trips to Bermuda.

As well as his cricket credentials, Laker was a career civil servant who served at various times as principal assistant secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Trade, general sales manager of the Jamaica Commodity Trading Company, and president of the Association of African, Caribbean and Pacific National Chambers of Commerce, Industry and other Economic Operators, headquartered in Brussels. He passed away in 2013.

The couple married and moved to Jamaica in 1978, where Levers entered into private practice in chambers with Dr Lloyd Barnett, Angela Hudson Phillips QC and David Muirhead QC. During her career in Jamaica she ran a varied practice that took her to the Privy Council on a number of occasions, where she appeared before their Lordships with such eminent Leading Counsel as Stanley Brodie QC and Jeffrey Jowell QC. Her practice in Jamaica ended in 2003 when, after being appointed as acting grand judge, she took up a full appointment on the bench in Cayman.

During her time on the bench, she was acting chief justice on several occasions. She was active in all divisions of the Grand Court, contributing leading judgments in a number of areas. She was chosen to speak at the 2007 seminar held by the Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists in London, where she was the first speaker from Cayman to make a presentation at an event of that association. Afterwards, she was made an honourary member of the association.

In 2003 she suffered from kidney failure but despite the seriousness of her diagnosis and the long sessions of dialysis, she rarely missed a day on the bench. Often times, Levers worked while undergoing treatment; asking for skeleton arguments and other material to be delivered to her at the hospital. After undergoing a successful kidney transplant from her daughter, Leanne, in 2006, she returned to the bench earlier than expected, resuming a full workload.

Following the tribunal and the end of her time on the local bench she maintained an active role in the legal profession, which included acting on behalf of drug lord, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, and the Coke family as lead consultant to his legal team.

As hard-working as she was, Levers also found time for other causes and was a former secretary of the Jamaican Human Rights Council. After her diagnosis, she worked with others to found the Cayman Islands Kidney Foundation and acted as its first secretary. She worked with several church organisations to feed the poor on the anniversary of her father’s death. She also donated to several worthy causes.

In her youth she was an accomplished dancer, specialising in traditional forms of Indian and Spanish dancing and performing at several events in both Sri Lanka and Jamaica. She was always known to be a great entertainer and loved to throw dinner parties, often hosting dignitaries and other officials during their visits to Jamaica. In addition to her love for dance and entertaining, she was an avid cricket fan who enjoyed travelling to watch the West Indies team play. She also loved tennis and took pleasure in attending Grand Slam events when she was able. But above all, she loved and dedicated her life to her children, Dhara, Christopher and Leanne.