Caymanian lawyer to become court boss
Suzanne Bothwell, Court Administrator Designate
(CNS): Long time government lawyer, Suzanne Bothwell, has been appointed as court administrator designate and will replace teh current court administrator, Kevin McCormac, in June. Bothwell was appointed following an open recruitment process, in which she sat before a panel comprising Chief Justice Anthony Smellie, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson and Ingrid Pierce, Global Managing Partner at Walkers.
When she takes over, Bothwell will be responsible for the management and administration of the non-judicial operations of the courts, for which she will report to the chief justice. She will also serve as chief officer responsible for judicial administration, for which she will report to the deputy governor.
Having worked in government for the past 15 years, Bothwell has held a number of senior legal jobs in and out of outside the Attorney General’s Chambers. She served as a senior crown counsel with the Portfolio of Legal Affairs doing criminal, civil, family and international law and anti-money laundering litigation. She has also acted as solicitor general from time to time and currently serves as deputy supervisor of elections. She also served as the director of the Constitutional Review Secretariat and chaired the Health Insurance Commission.
“It is with great pride that we announce Mrs Bothwell’s appointment as the new courts administrator,” Manderson said. “She is highly qualified, has a wealth of experience in working with the judiciary, and is another example of our commitment to appoint highly qualified Caymanians in senior posts in the civil service.”
McCormac completes his four year term in April but he will stay on until June to allow Bothwell to undertake additional training in the UK prior to assuming the post. Manderson said that McCormac made it clear from the date of his appointment that he wanted a four year term, only giving him time to improve the performance of judicial administration and allow government time to find a Caymanian to take over the post.
With the appointment of Bothwell, the succession plan appearing to have worked, and McCormac said he was looking forward to working alongside Bothwell over the next few months to ensure a smooth transition.
“Providing justice is a critical part of any strong society and it has been a privilege to serve the people of the Cayman Islands in this role. It has also been a pleasure to work with so many committed and able judges, magistrates and court staff for the last four years,” he added.
Chief Justice Smellie thanked McCormac for what he described as “his sterling contribution” to the courts and congratulated Bothwell on her appointment. “I have known Mrs Bothwell for many years. She has appeared before our courts in many cases on behalf of the crown and has acted as my adviser and representative on matters involving our Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the United States of America. I am delighted to see her promoted up the ranks of the civil service to be now designated to lead the administrative operations of the courts and I look forward to working with her.”
Bothwell said she was pleased to work the chief justice in this new capacity. “I hope to build upon the strong foundation left by previous court administrators and look forward to receiving the support of the staff in bringing in new and innovative measures that will enhance the functioning of our local court system for all relevant stakeholders,” she said.
Category: Jobs, Local News
Congrats Suzanne Bothwell and just ignore those that may not have anything positive to say about anyone =
This goes to show all Caymanians = if you are willing to work hard and stop complaining about everything or everyone that they feel is an obstacle in their way to better them selves they can do so =
Remember not because you’re a Caymanian that it is an entitlement for anything
I am A BUSINESS OWNER and over the years had my issues with Caymanians and no one can tell me that those employees weren’t treated with the greatest respect and paid well =
I will always be PRO CAYMANIAN
I agree that a percentage of Caymanians are not given an oppertunity as they are entitle too
My advise to all before applying for a job = to have an attitude adjustment = just give your best from the heart and treat people with respect- because your last job maybe you Future
Before leaving the job you’re one = just think is it really worth it and is it going to get any better for me if I do so =
In my younger years = I thrive on Negativity and anger and it got me “NO WHERE” but I had to make that change in my life and thank GOD I did and for doing so I am now a better person
May God bless this island and it’s people
Dexter Layman Ebanks
Congrats to my cousin, hard work pays off, blessings & continue making us proud..
I would like to thank Kevin McCormac for the job he has done. Not only has he been effective in his job but he and his wife have been friends to the people of Cayman. I say, Thanks for being here and may the rest of you journeys be be rewarding and full filling.
shock! a woman has been promoted in CIG…. maybe there is hope!
Yet another case of exemplary succession planning put in place by an expatriate.
Certainly not by those in her previous department! They are doing their best to keep Caymanians and Brits out of there. Hence the poor results.
Amen!!
Actually, no. Succession Planning by the expatriate, which you patriarchally & condescendingly assumed occurred, would have meant a promotion from within his department. We can only assume the reasons this was not possible. So the Caymanian head of the Caymanian civil service looked around and found a very competent Caymanian who, we can only assume, being stymied in her Department applied and was found good for the job.
This is not a knock on the outgoing Court Administrator who, by all accounts, is a stand-up fellow who came, did his job, and is now heading out with dignity just as he said he would. This is a rebuttal to your attempt to turn anything good done by Caymanians in to something good done by someone else. You disgust me.
Congratulations to you, Suzanne! Great news…. and yes – get those staff to answer their phones please! Or at least respond to voicemails/emails.
Just another great day in the civil service. So many positive things happening. Congrats Suzanne you have been a great inspiration
Thank you Deputy Governor for promoting so many highly qualified Caymanians
What an amazing person, who has made so many of us proud. Congrats Suzanne, we know you are more than qualified to do the job
Congrats Sue, so proud of you. Blessings always
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer Caymanian!
Trini Driftwood.
My dear, if you really knew what driftwood means and meant in the blow up with Ozzie…you most likely would think twice before, or would not use it. It does not mean what you are alluding to…
So what if Ms. Bothwell’s father is a Trini her mother is a Caymanian. I and many others have children that have one parent who is non Caymanian. Why does that matter if they are mixed, and why refer to the non Caymanian heritage…especially in this case?
Congratulations Suzanne, a well deserved promotion!
Frankly my dear, I dont give a damn.
Ozzie can’t use his or her real name because she/he is a coward behind a computer screen. I’m so glad for my cousin. Congrats Suzanne from NYC USA. We live in 2016 Ozzie grow up and stop being a bigot.
Agreed 11:35! Suzanne is an excellent example of how children of one foreign born parent can contribute mightily to Cayman’s future. Just think of all the MLAs with one expat parent -Suckoo, Archer,McTaggart, Hew -all playing their part. Ozzie’s driftwood nonsense was just that: nonsense from a nonsensical man who will be back pumping gas after the next election.
If you want to call her driftwood, why not use your own name instead of Ozzie? Troublemaker.
One tip. Please make sure the Court office is not shut at the time of the Christmas party. Someone has to stay behind.
But surely the world’s fifth largest financial centre cannot be expected to have operating courts when there is a Christmas party going on?
If she can get the court staff to occasionally answer the telephone that would be a start
Call the reception and ask to be transferred. Much higher success rate. And tells you everything you need to know about the attitude of court staff.
Congrats Suzanne, you deserve all the success you have achieved. Ever since school days, you were intelligent, driven and gorgeous. You always have been a genuinely good hearted person. It is so good to see you win!
“Gorgeous”? Would you say a male appointee is “handsome” or “hunky” or something? Is she competent, experienced in preparing budgets and managing people-you know, the things that really should be the reasons people get jobs rather than getting them out of where they are because they aren’t doing very well and/or they are Caymanians. Another very major department in Government has suffered for over 30 years because of a policy of getting rid of the non performing Caymanians from “the front lines” where things are supposed to get done and promoting them into higher paid administrative roles where nothing happens because they really have nothing to offer until, thankfully, they retire..
Amen!
You certainly have a beef against Caymanians – driftwood jealousy again possibly because you came from somewhere else where you could not get ahead but now come here and want to tell us what to do!
Please examine again what you wrote against the original statement which was taken in the context of “school days”, what about that you are obviously able to comprehend.
I could understand the poster if their experience is derived from interacting with jerks like you.
Congrats Suzanne.
Good for you Mrs. Bothwell. Well deserved, and good for the Country.