Controversial lawyers law returns for comment
(CNS): One of the most controversial but critical pieces of legislation that governments have failed to get passed for more than a decade has made a comeback. A new version of the Legal Practitioners Law, now the Legal Services Bill, has been published for public comment after Cabinet approved this latest redraft. The bill has been sent to the Legislative Assembly and is expected to be debated in December in the last meeting of the year.
Officials said in the press release announcing its publication that the bill was aimed at modernising how the legal profession in the Cayman Islands is regulated. The practice of law in the Cayman Islands is currently regulated by the Legal Practitioners Law (2015 Revision), first enacted in 1969.
Over the years there have been numerous amendments to that law as the profession evolved. However, the framework is now inadequate to regulate the contemporary legal world in the Cayman Islands with a significant international component.
There are well over 600 practicing attorneys in Cayman today, compared to a few dozen when the law was first enacted in 1969, and the practice of law has changed significantly in that time.
The difficulty that successive governments have had in getting this law passed is that not all lawyers are created equal. What suits the larger firms, which have global offices and cater to the high-flyers of international finance, does not necessarily suit a small family practitioner dealing with conveyancing and divorce. Another spoke in the wheel has been how to write into the legislation requirements for firms to recruit train, retain and promote Caymanian lawyers.
An Executive Summary explaining each clause of the latest iteration of this bill has been published as a supplement to the law to help people with their comments and submissions.
Comments on the Bill should be submitted 24 November 2020 to
Tesia Scott at tesia.scott@gov.ky
in the Government Administration Building, Portfolio of Legal Affairs.See the legislation and summary in the CNS Library
If what the large international firms do in Cayman is illegal, which I doubt, you need to change the laws to legalize it. They are doing offshore finance in competition with the world, They supposedly supply 65% of your government budget. Do you want these payments to continue? If so, make their lives easier, not harder.
It is understandable that many local lawyers are envious of the fees generated in the offshore finance sector, but the only sure way to get a piece of this is to graduate high in your class at a quality UK law school, successfully clerk for a recognized firm, and conduct yourself like a smart, highly educated expert. You can’t legislate yourself a slice of this pie because the clients are not subject to local control and have many options. It’s just not the same as getting a piece of a local condo, airport or school construction contract. If you make it painful and expensive, the offshore clients and their lawyers will move somewhere welcoming.
And when a Caymanian lawyer does all of those things, correctly identifies and points out that the conduct of their employer is unlawful (as is their obligation as an officer of the court) and is promptly terminated for doing so?
I’m afraid you’re showing your ignorance. The only reason Steve McField doesn’t get those billion dollar hedge fund lawsuits is RACISM plain and simple.
The CNS readers show their wisdom once again.
Who needs a financial services industry anyway?
600 liar’s, I mean lawyers on the island?
And they get to write their own bills..
Awesome!
yes they are above the law!
Well you most of them have superiority complexes anyway!! Would never get away with it anywhere else.
Winston not there to save the poor little rich lawyers this time.
Yup. Integrity is missing from the Legislative Assembly, and it shows.
Regulate those thieving extortionists!!!!
Are you paying attention?
People need to realize that this isn’t just about some local lawyers looking jobs. This affects the industry that is 60% of Cayman’s GDP.
There is a reason this law has been so controversial. Listen to the so-called “antagonists”. They’re trying to tell you something and you’re not listening.
2020 now come full circle.
Sorry it is always about local lawyers. They are the ones who vote.
Please enlighten us. Seriously, this matter is too important. If you have information that will help enlighten the public, please share it. Thank you.
The practice of Cayman Law has been exported, often in breach of existing law. The make up of some of the law firms is mischaracterized to regulators. Ownership and control of some vests with persons who are not even Cayman Islands attorneys. All of this is widely known and understood. All of this is on the wrong side of existing legal requirements.
Actually, they comply with every jot and tittle of the law and can prove it anytime they need to. They are experts. You should appreciate them for what they do.
So why are websites riddled with the faces of lawyers practicing Cayman Law who have never been admitted to practice? (By the way, that is an offense).
Is it? Under what provision? And how is that offence, if it exists, extraterritorial?
It is time for it to be said. They are painting over their longstanding breaches of existing law in broad daylight. Why would anyone expect them to follow the new law? Where are the regulators? How can lawyers be allowed to openly break the laws of Cayman?
Existing laws are indeed being plainly and overtly broken. Anyone dare ask the Attorney General or the Chief Justice how that is the case? Perhaps CILPA can explain?
Or CARA. Or are they too busy being sued for going after small local lawyers for refusing to join their club, while largely expatriate members of that same club face no repercussions for their longstanding and continuing breaches of law?
File a complaint if you think something is illegal. Sitting there whining doesn’t cut it.
Complaints have been made and the Caymanians that made them become unemployed very quickly. Others have learned from the mistakes of the generation before them. Better to take the money and stay quiet.
Have you ever tried to file a complaint against a legal practitioner in Cayman? I have and I will tell you that it’s a joke. Lawyers here literally have a license to steal. Good ol boys club.. plain and simple…
With who?
So the PPM will go down in history as the Government who brought us the following legislation
1 FOI
2 Standards in public life
3 Public Authorities Law
4 Election Law (single members constituencies
5. Public Precurement Law
6. Anti Corruption Law
7. Defence Law
8 Regiment Law
9.Conditional Release Law
10 Legal Services Law
I can’t imagine where cayman would be without these historic laws.
Almost none of which are enforced, or even consistently followed…
9:50. I just won $300 on your response. I bet that at least one Negative Poster would find fault in my post. Some people just can’t face facts.
Gambling Law? You simply do not get it.
Straight to the shitter which is obviously where the elite want it to be. The 0.1% and the 99.9% are separating out real fast and its getting a lot easier to see who’s who.
Buckle up folks, this is going to be a bumpy ride from here on in. I did sneak a look at the last page and the good guys actually do win in the end.
It’s going to be like one of those Punisher movies. I can’t wait to see the corrupt “policy makers” punished for their abject dishonesty.
General rule of thumb, anyone with Honourable, Excellent, Majesty, Highness, Sir, Officer in their title should be viewed with suspicion.
So … if a corrupt government creates an anti-corruption law, it makes the corruption disappear too, right? That’s not corrupt at all!!
Didn’t think so either. If it walks like a pig and oinks when it gets more money, that’s a lot of pork to eat! At least piggy banks can only hold so much coins!!
Any good criminals know they have to cover their tracks and hide the heist. Clearly they believe we are all idiots, easily manipulated, and are gullible just as much as Trump does!!! (Suckers and losers) Vote them out May 2021, bring them across the road, and banish their friends to Gulliver’s Island!