Alick Lawrence gives advice to lawyers

Senior Counsel Alick Lawrence

Senior Counsel Alick Lawrence has warned legal practitioners that they need to be aware that there is a relationship between the “practitioner and the bench”.

“That relationship is guided by long established rules which regulate matters such as deportment, court room etiquette and indeed every aspect of the practitioner’s interaction with the court,” Lawrence stated.

Lawrence, who just a few months ago was conferred with the title of ‘Senior Counsel’ or ‘Silk’, was addressing the opening of the 2012/2013 law year on Tuesday. He told lawyers that they need to have “a high degree of preparation, honesty and professionalism” as they prepare for court.

He also cautioned his colleagues about unnecessary delays and requests for adjournments at court sessions and reminded them of their duty of not interfering with the administration of justice or misleading the court.

“In that relationship the practitioner’s duty includes: the duty to conduct cases efficiently and expeditiously as the acting chief justice mentioned earlier. This duty addresses issues such as unnecessary delays and requests for adjournment. Secondly there is a duty not to abuse the process of the court. This duty is meant to protect the integrity of the adversarial system; it deals with matters such as raising defenses with no merit and with situations where practitioners know that there is no cause of action, but nevertheless raise or continue it for illegitimate notice,” he said.

According to Lawrence, there is a duty of candor and lawyers must not deceive the court in matters of law. “They are under duty to make full disclosure as to all the law relevant to the case in hand. Insofar as facts are concerned, lawyers must never knowingly give false or misleading information to the court … there is a duty not to interfere with the administration of justice,” Lawrence remarked.

Lawrence stated that in a small society such as Dominica’s where everyone knows everyone personally, it is challenging to separate personal relationships from professional ones. “There is a tendency even in the conduct of professional matters to be informal, personal, familiar and sometimes discourteous. Such laxness tends to affect the conduct of practitioners even at the bar table and puts other practitioners and I dare say even the bench as well, in a very awkward position to put it mildly,” he warned.

He is hopeful that all members of the bar would “critically explore” these relationships with a view to making improvements which would be “obvious to all” at the commencement of next law term.

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22 Comments

  1. ROSEAU VALLEY
    September 20, 2012

    DNO,my apologies. My initial human reaction to your story failed me and I was focused on the messenger rather than his message. The Senior Counsel has given some solid advice.

    One would have liked, however, to hear Counsel echoing the themes stressed upon by Dr. Andre to our lawyers a few weeks ago when he called upon our lawyers to play a more active role in contributing to the good health of our dying democratic society.

    I would have liked to read some advice to our local lawyers to:
    – speak on issues of national, importance without fear or favour, in an open, objective, dispassionate, intelligent, honest, confident and professional manner;
    – be true to their profession and a reminder that they owe a duty to the wider society in preserving and promoting our social, constitutional and democratic values;
    – be brave, bold and to avoid shying away from their collective and personal responsibilities in standing up in defense of our constitution;
    – wake up from their mummified silence and comatose state in advocating on the behalf of the greater good of society;
    – understand how well placed they are to inject life and restore our constitution as our supreme law;
    – understand that it is a violation of their professional duty to substitute their own selfish, politically partisan views for what they know or ought to know to be the correct interpretation of the constitutional provisions of the Commonwealth of Dominica.
    – help mentor and train the younger and less experienced lawyers and to share the wealth of their knowledge and experience;

    I suspect that I did not hear that kind of advice from the Senior Counsel because one would have to look at himself in a mirror when giving such advice.

    Respectfully
    Roseau valley

    • Anonymous
      September 22, 2012

      growing up asa kidthe word lawyer was synonymous to liar they have both gone HI-TECH

  2. Views Expressed
    September 20, 2012

    Oh My God…..I am confused…I am really confused.. Bishop just called for repentence is this the begining or is it because the tiltle of SC has been bestowed all of a sudden this newly SC has a vopice of intrity…well where has he been..”in Regie`s toliet….up north..Please…show me your friends I tell u who u are…while the poor of this counry cintinue to beg and get poorer..

  3. Laybah Pains
    September 20, 2012

    Alick Lawrence had a laybah shirt and a uwp shirt in his car in the 2005 elections and when Laybah win he drive to Grandbay celebrating..

  4. Anonymous
    September 20, 2012

    I have read Mr Lawrence’s advise to his fellow lawyers and he was not afraid to speak the truth which we have complained about. Now he has spoken, the very people who have complained, now complaining about their very concerns.

    I put it to all of us, who has not done his brother or sister wrong? I recall years ago, Dr Shillingford delivered a lecture organised by the Massacre Youth to the populace of Massacre. During the lecture, he he cautioned us of the dangers on our health when you smoke cigarette, at the same time he was smoking a cigarette. The question to all of us: because the good doctor was smoking cigarette, do we dismiss the good advise he gave us? Or do we say “you smoking and you telling us not to smoke?”

    With the above scenario, let us not knock the messenger, but take the message and improve our lives.

    Thank you.

  5. remember
    September 19, 2012

    the judge should fine the lawyers when they mislead the court

  6. >>>>>>>>>>>
    September 19, 2012

    Dominica needs men of integrity. Those who know the right thing and who do the right thing.

  7. buulit
    September 19, 2012

    omg, are these guys for real.

  8. happ
    September 19, 2012

    congratulation Mr. Lawrence. Well deserved. You continue to show both integrity and honesty and wisdom. You are a good man. keep it up.

  9. airborne
    September 19, 2012

    honesty,professionalism,…integrity,…sorry sir you just missed the ship..these wonderful virtues by which we were once guided have ‘eluded’us a long time ago!!!!!

  10. Dominican
    September 19, 2012

    Looks who’s talking.. This must be a joke right…geez!

    • @WELL
      September 19, 2012

      @Dominican whilst I agree with your comment. I also agree with his. Because if you take some time to visit one of those court sittings you will agree with me that it was better that the Lawyers’ secretaries were the ones that should have the black robes on to stand before the judge. Even the sitting judges sometimes lack the look of professionals. They seem to always look tired and irritated. The lawyers converse with the opposing party lawyer as their clients weren’t present and make a decision before the case is heard by the court. Some mele melage that goes on and in the end some people who don’t deserve to lose will lose. The system upholders should work better at upholding the law they pay so much money to practice for. At the way they are behaving now makes the LLB seem a fruitless four to seven years.

  11. beholder
    September 19, 2012

    Preparation and civility are essential in matters before the court. And so is prompt expeditious action. Justice delayed is justice denied. I suggest that the government needs to set the example in handling matters of title. Dominicans often fail to prosper because legal matters sit in limbo endlessly, wait for judgement far too long, and the attitude toward legal conflicts of interest are too lax.

    • P
      September 19, 2012

      You are so right on this one.

  12. Aye Dominique
    September 19, 2012

    I really want to forget the messenger in order to really appreciate the message, because it’s great advice.

    Let’s lead by example Sr. Counsel!

  13. Anonymous
    September 19, 2012

    Does this apply to you and your team SC ?????????? Give me a break.

  14. CIA on the Watch
    September 19, 2012

    DNO, Is this the same Alick Lawrence who as a member of the Electoral Commission instaed of defending the peoples concern supported Tony Astaphan in the Dual Citizenship matter against the Honourable Prime Minister?? Guess he must have redeemed himself and can now talk about administration of jusrice. Thank God he has seen the light.

  15. Anonymous
    September 19, 2012

    Screaming my butt off with laughter!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLMAOLMAOLMAOLOLOLOLOLOLLMAOLMAOLMAO!!!!!

  16. Standards & Poors
    September 19, 2012

    Preparation ?/yes,Professionalism and Honesty are absent.
    Give e a break Sr.Counsel that Honesty thing has left the D/can society long ago. Lawyers are the last ones to throw the first stone.Go shake ur bag where U purchase ur coal.

    • North Star
      September 19, 2012

      are you retarded?

  17. Kicks
    September 19, 2012

    Great advice, Senior Counsel sir, now what you need to ASAP, is to write to the worst offenders (I’m sure you know who they are) and tell them the same thing. So they cannot say you didn’t warn them. :lol: :lol:

    • Bush Lawyer
      September 19, 2012

      Kicks you forgot to tell him directly to CC it to himself lol! Maybe he did a BCC lol

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