In a speech delivered last Wednesday (16) at the Grand Court Opening, the newly appointed President of the Law Society, Alasdair Robertson, a partner in the Finance Group of Maples and Calder, said that the profession was in desperate need of a modern Legal Practitioners’ Law.

The Legal Practitioners’ Law concerns the regulation and discipline of lawyers.

He said, “I fear that the lengthy delay and consequent misunderstanding of the objectives of the bill have enabled the bill to become something more than merely a bill to regulate the profession. It is important for us to ensure that the objective of the bill remains clear, namely to introduce a regulatory framework that reflects modern international standards.

“Contrary to the perception of some, the profession has, and will continue to ensure the inclusion of Caymanians.”

He backed this up by pointing out the number of Caymanians recently called to bar as well as the number of Caymanians who were heading up local law firms or were partners in major offshore firms.

“The law,” Roberts said, “was critical to the future success of the jurisdiction and the profession had to be a meritocracy and I do not know of any Caymanian lawyers that would not agree with that.” He pointed out the Law Society had published a commitment paper outlining what the profession planned to do with regard to the advancement of Caymanians.

“There is a need to look forward and not back as the profession had changed and was less discriminatory,” he added. He claimed the Grand Court Opening was not a place to give a detailed response to the chairman of the Law Reform Commission, Ian Paget-Brown, who slammed the Law Society and the major firms accusing them of being populated by lawyers who no longer had any loyalty to the jurisdiction and did not care about the Cayman Islands.

(See today’s iNews Cayman story “Ian Paget-Brown blasts Law Society and major law firms”)