Prominent Dominican attorney, Peter Alleyne, is expressing concern that young lawyers recently called to the Dominica Bar have not been keeping their promise of assisting those who can’t afford to pay.
Since being called to the Bar over ten years ago, Alleyne has been at the forefront in doing pro bono work and assisting the court with persons who cannot afford a lawyer.
When the Criminal Session for 2019 opened on January 15, 2019, Alleyne was among the few lawyers present who also included Wayne Norde and Gina Abraham ( recently called to the Bar) David Bruney and Ronald Charles, who took a matter pro bono.
“I expected to see more of the new/young lawyers to be at the court to come to see first-hand what was taking place in the court. When they were called to the Bar in their opening speech to the court, they gave all kinds of fancy speeches as to how they intend to serve the society and the development of the country,” Alleyne said.
He continued, “I am a bit disappointed that none of them showed up all, be it at the case management stage but just to see what the process is, they should have been in court.”
Alleyne said he is “overwhelmed” with criminal matters and many times has had to do pro bono work to assist people charged before the court.
“The Legal Aid Clinic is available but it’s a government agency and so they themselves cannot be defending persons who is accused of a crime while the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) an arm of the State is also prosecuting,” he said.
“The Legal Aid function is to find and contact lawyers who are willing to assist those who don’t have the means to pay a lawyer. So far, this has not been happening…those of us (like me) have been picking up the slack and it’s overwhelming now, and I would like to see the young lawyers now come and assist,” Alleyne stated.
According to Alleyne, if the young lawyers come and observe they will learn.
“You study law in order to practice law and when you only do civil matters most times it takes years but in a criminal matter you are on your feet always. You learn advocacy, how to approach the court deal with witnesses, summation to the jury etc. Maybe because most of them are women [they] are a bit scared but it’s a good way to wet your feet,” he contends. “Those of us practicing in the criminal court are pleased with what we have seen thus far it’s a breath of fresh air. We are excited to see the start; too many people who are charged have been languishing in prison and waiting for their day in court.”
A true Rastaman! Bless up, Peter!
Another rasta-man. Another rasta-lawyer. Another pro-bono rasta. Reminds me of a JA rasta in America who owned a restaurant and instead called it a rastarant.
The new lawyers ought to be mentored by a senior attorney for a few months. Part of there obligation once sworn in should clearly state the expectations. Doctors, nurses and other professions earn our “respect” by doing the difficult things; as a new intern/graduate the professional expectations are drilled in us while attaining our eventual accolades. Therefore it is with great humility we give back at every opportunity. Certain so deemed “clean” professions don’t want to deal with “the least of these” Too bad.
I agree with you, Mr. Alleyne. I ALWAYS say the same thing especially when I hear persons calling for the creation of jobs by the currently developed private sector and the private sectors. I wonder where’s the call to encourage our young people to create the jobs themselves. I understand the current global economic climate and the air of competitiveness in present days have indeed become much more burdensome but that is a challenge which helps a country grow and become resilient: that persons who are willing to overcome these challenges and stand on their own. Equip yourself with the skills in knowledge, sometimes it is indeed a cost to you but in the future, the benefits you reap will be worth it. Hoping the young lawyers take the call of Mr. Alleyne. A few hours of your day to observe, make notes to help build you as a professional and will help build a successful privately owned law firm.
You all seem to forget that every single one of the new lawyers answer to a senior attorney. They do not work for themselves. If i am not mistaken, out of the 5 women, 3 work for the state! Think before you talk.
If we didn’t need a lawyer for Certificates of Title in Dominica, a lot of these people wouldn’t even go and study law. You hardly ever see these young lawyers in court representing anyone; much less ‘pro bono’. Five or six titles is almost equivalent to my YEARLY salary. Pro bono? You wish..!
In DA nothing happening, no real news, no one hiring after almost 20 years of a failed government that took and destroyed everything they met that contributed to our economy . We are left in poverty to the point that we have to spend hours in line to beg Skerrit a dollar. And you know what? Skerrit likes that because that’s exactly what he had in mind when he became PM. His vision was to make us poor while he enriched himself so instead of going to work every morning, we would clime the steps to his office to beg him so in return we would vote for him. What a shame and disgrace to any country! More people climb the steps of the financial center to beg Skerrit than people are dressed to go work. The news from Dominica is the same every damn day. It’s one of hopelessness, people poor and commit crime and yet so poor they can’t hire a lawyer. Read the articles on DNO and see if there is anything to give hope. We need to change that people and the only way is to get rid of Skerrit
Very well stated! You are absolutely really right.
You need to follow other news outlets as well to get a balanced view. Each outlet serves different purposes and presents their stories differently because they aim to appeal to you in their own ways. Take, for example, GIS presents news on what is happening within the government sector, you will rarely see private sector news. DNO serves as the antithesis so you will see a lot of articles with a lot of controversial undertones. DA Vibes and EMO news remain on the fence. You can say the same for CNN, Fox News, BBC, Al Jazeera, and the res Not saying that it is a bad thing because it allows one to gauge the reactions of people on different platforms and sort of create a balance. Where the disparity lies is when persons rely on only one news source for information and so they remain vastly ill-informed from seeing things on only one side of the wall.
With all respect to DNO and their news articles of January 16, 2019, as a Dominican myself I must say that news from DA really sucks as our news give the impression that Dominica is a cemetery, where only dead bodies reside. When I read news from Barbados I see Ross University that Skerrit rejected and forced out. I read St. Vincent news and I see an International airport that Skerrit rejected and is now causing new flights and airlines to boost their industry. When I read news from St. Lucia, I read of their banana industry that is bouncing back and creating employment for many, while Skerrit destroyed our banana industry to the point that five years now we can’t sell a box of bananas. Skerrit took all our present and future jobs from us and sent them to his friends and yet, we gave him a red motor Cade on Saturday. Are we really wearing the title of the “Fools paradise of the Caribbean?” No doubt any other island that lost a university there would be protests. In DA motor cade?
As Peter said they need to come court to understand how court operates, and do pro bono casing can also give them vast expirence in order to defend people . It would not make any sense to higher a lawyer with no court expirence, so that’s where they need to go and learn the practical and tactics. Is not just the theory. Is just like a police man who never attend court or never arrest a person lacking some knowledge.
There is a problem with Peter’s call. He should call on all lawyers, not just the newly admitted ones. The new ones have the most to gain (experience) but can least afford it, but it’s a valuable sacrifice to make. The experienced attorneys can afford more pro bono work and should step up to the plate. That would encourage the young lawyers.
I agreed with alleyne they all give nice fancy speeches of how they going to do this and that but after the ceremony they disappear. Most of them are the children of the local Bourgeoisie so what do they care about the poor man they only know us when we have to sell our family land to make ends meet. Respect to Lawyer Gina Abraham thou a country woman from marigot coming to call of the common man
Because most are women, they only got the law degree to get a good rich man. Or a politican who can afford to have them ………. They dont really have interest in advocacy, help poor or doing work unless the media can see them doing it. Vanity. Its a shame, cuz its the truth.
Getting the law degree is not a walk in the park, so I think that these women also planned to work and use it.
Is this the kind of gutter mentality you think of when young people (women for that matter) who are trying to empower themselves and earn a living for themselves and their families? And to see this is a comment that has attracted so many likes all in the name of politics? This is sad, sickening and downright disgusting.
Women have worked hard to attain the opportunity that they now can and to think that women are pursuing and excelling in a field that was once male-dominated speaks on the tenacity of our women. As Annon rightly said Law is not an easy field as with doctor etc, hence why historically, women were never seen as being “fit for the job”. So kudos to the young women and their families, who place everything on the line to pursue their careers and be better.
DNO please be careful not to approve such chauvinistic and discriminatory statements. Thank you.
why is it gutter mentality when it is the truth. Everybody wants to get big fast, steady income and take no risks, that y they run get govt job(s). Ever wonder y the DPP is so incompetent? Alot of no experience women there on political connections.
Talking about work hard, law is a humanities subject, ANYBODY with money and time can get these type of degrees. STEM degrees, science technology engineering and mathematics based degrees, are more challenging and more in demand too. So if you didnt know, now you know.
And fyi, im not in no politics- both UWP and DLP suck. If DFP have a candidate in my area i might vote them. But even they need signifcant improvement. So dont pile my comment in some political heap.
It is gutter because you are implying that most women who pursue a law degree are gold diggers. “Because most are women, they only got the law degree to get a good rich man. Or a politician who can afford to have them”. Your words. You are also implying that women are the issue, this makes it chauvinistic. It is a universal occurrence where people pursue careers which are high paying and also seek gov’t jobs because it is easier for them. They end up performing poorly because it is not a passion for them, just something to make fast money. You debase a law degree because by your definition it is not a STEM degree? You must review what constitutes a science, what IS a science. There is a lot of philosophy that goes into the study of law. A subject not linked to biology, chemistry or physics doesn’t exclude it from the field of science. I placed your comment in a political heap because of the negligent phrasing of your comment.