By Georgina Wilcox

In a survey commissioned by The Cayman Islands Law Society (CILS) in December 2012, Grant Thornton UK LLP approached a number of law firms in the Cayman Islands and received responses from 12 firms.

In a letter from Grant Thornton dated 14^th February to Alastair Robertson, President of CILS, the letter summarized their findings as follows:

• in the six years to 31 December 2012, 110 legal scholarships were granted, of which 33 remain current

 • in the six years to 31 December 2012, 203 non-legal scholarships were granted, of which 40 remain current

 • in the six years to 31 December 2012, 27 opportunities for Caymanian lawyers to be seconded to firms outside of the Cayman Islands were offered; in 2012, there were 7 opportunities, an increase of 16%  on 2011 and an increase of 133% from the low point in 2007 and 2008

 • of the 27 opportunities offered, 18 were accepted and those Caymanian lawyers have had the benefit of an overseas secondment

 • the training programmes  offered  by the firms are wide-ranging and are broadly consistent in topics covered

• foreign offices of the responding Finns  generated  close to US$24 million in direct revenue for the Cayman Islands Government (Registrar of Companies and CIMA) in 2011

 • direct  revenue generated by foreign  offices in 2012 was close to US$28 million, representing  an increase of 16% year on year

The letter also says that of the responses received from the 12 firms some disclosed ‘nil returns’ or confirmed that data would not be provided.

Grant Thornton considered whether the number of responses received in relation to each question posed by CILS was sufficiently broad to ensure that the risk of confidentiality of data provided by each firm was not compromised. They concluded that the number of responses was sufficient to eliminate that risk.