est. 2007

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Thieving Lawyers The Scourge Of Unsuspecting Barbadians

Submitted by Madonna Immediately upon being apprised that the name of the lawyer in question had been posted here on BU, BU redacted the post removing the name of the lawyer in question and apologises to him/her in a more prominent position that that in which he/she was named for any embarrassment that may have been…

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Submitted by Madonna

Immediately upon being apprised that the name of the lawyer in question had been posted here on BU, BU redacted the post removing the name of the lawyer in question and apologises to him/her in a more prominent position that that in which he/she was named for any embarrassment that may have been caused. BU’s contributors are reminded that the matter of possibly defamatory statements was aired here on BU and reminds the BU family that in order for all of us to protect our right of free speech on matters of national and international import here on BU, we must exercise good judgement in our comments.

David

My gripe is that a lot of poor people are being unfair in Barbados by a lot of lawyers. Take for instance my situation. this particular attorney and I have been friends since my school days, I wanted to sell my house and I asked his advice, he told me if I go to a real estate agent I would have to pay a lot of money so foolish me trusting him agree that he would assist me in selling the house and he in turn would charge me $10,000, I agreed although I felt it was a bit high seeing that the house was being sold for $192,000.

Would you believe that the crooked lawyer waited until I done sign the papers and then tell me his cost is $39,147.00 in legal fees, and to make matters worst he tell me that I run up a total of $10,000 in phones calls?

I had to go to court to stop him from completing the sale and taking out his share as he threatened. The man produced a lot of bogus phone numbers and said that I called from the numbers, it is only after the case and I was given a copy of the numbers, when I called the numbers it is immigration’s numbers and some were not in service.

I had to pay him $17,000 after the case was finished so he did not get the money he was expecting. I am still not satisfied. I hear the Barbados Bar Association will do nothing but slap him on the wrist, but I waiting and see.

59 responses to “Thieving Lawyers The Scourge Of Unsuspecting Barbadians”

  1. Bonny Peppa Avatar
    Bonny Peppa

    A dying man asked his wife to bring two lawyers to be by his bedside. When asked why, he replied, ” I want to die like Jesus, among two thieves”.

  2. Can Barbadians Name And Shame Lawyers? « Barbados Underground

    […] 2, 2010 · Leave a Comment Submitted (as a comment) by […]

  3. Amused Avatar
    Amused

    Hants // May 2, 2010 at 4:49 PM. Question not answered – and you know it.

    SO.

    Two clients. Both want the same public display in which you specialize. One offers to pay you a lot more than the other. Because you are a talented person and can do BOTH jobs, you accept. But which one will you give more attention to? The one who pays less, or the one who pays more? To which will you commit more time and thought – and take greater care to ensure becomes a repeat customer of yours?

    Now, answer that and let us stop pretending.

  4. Amused Avatar
    Amused

    michael // May 2, 2010 at 4:44 PM. As far as real estate law goes, there are strict guidelines. The lawyers’ scale of fees is based on percentage of the sale price of the property. I have also known sales of properties that have not changed hands for many generations where the title deeds have been lost and worse, simply never recorded. Such searches can be extremely complex, requiring many man hours of work and going back some centuries in some cases. Remember too that many of Barbados’ public records a long time ago were the victims of flooding, fire and hurricane, so the reconstruction of titles can be extremely difficult. And having reconstructed everything, you may need to apply to the Court for title and that is another expense – and your application must be advertised by the Registrar in case their are any other claimants.

    I do not know whether this is the case or not with Ms Madonna Simmons’ property, but, absent these and many other details, it was, in my view, way out of order for her to attempt name and shame her attorney. She stated that she withdrew from the sale. Fine, that is her right. But we have no way of knowing how much time and resource her attorney had spent setting up the transaction for her.

    Without this knowledge, for us to attempt, as Scout did, to name and shame is, frankly, PRESUMPTUOUS!! Remember the adage, “Do unto others”. How would you feel if you had been contacted by Ms. Simmons and, because of the self-same ties of affection or whatever that she cites, you had undertaken this job for her and expended substantial time and effort and money (the searches clerk would have to have been paid by you) and then had her withdraw and try to reclaim what she had paid you on account, all on the basis that she had changed her mind. You see, the amounts that Ms Simmons talks of regarding the value of the property and the amount required by the lawyer, lead me to suspect that the lawyer was doing her a favour. Now, I could easily be wrong and things could be exactly as Ms Simmons suggests. However, I do not know – and nor does anyone else at this stage.

    My point simply is that there is a legal imperative in real property law that before you convey a property from one party to another, the title be clear. If a solicitor fails to do this, they are themselves liable in law. You cannot go to the solicitor and say to ignore any step of the process, based on cost or other consideration. The solicitor drawing the document by his stamp on the top of it certifies that all the elements of title are in order. The solicitor also has the obligation to pay all the taxes on your behalf, by way of stamp duty.

    So, I hope this helps and clarifies.

    If anything, though, I think this case highlights BUs call for legal education is schools. I agree with BU that this is a vital necessity, especially in today’s world. had Ms Simmons had that education as part of her schooling, she would have avoided the questionable legal practices that she alleges and (as I believe that none likely occurred) understood that realities of the situation.

  5. Sapidillo Avatar
    Sapidillo

    Our Justice system in Barbados leaves a lot to be desired. But unfortunately there is no where or no one to turn to in making the system one that makes us proud.

    Maybe those that would and do good on behalf of their clients are in the minority. Although word of mouth is the best referral there is, there is a downside when lawyers cannot publicly advertise their services.

    It’s about time lawyers be penalized for their dishonesty, no matter how large or small. Until one or two lawyers be brought to their knees with stiff penalties including jail time the Judicial system in Barbados would remain more of the same. White color crime is still crime.

  6. Amused Avatar
    Amused

    Sapidillo // May 3, 2010 at 9:49 AM. “It’s about time lawyers be penalized for their dishonesty, no matter how large or small. Until one or two lawyers be brought to their knees with stiff penalties including jail time the Judicial system in Barbados would remain more of the same.”

    I agree with that. You have my support on that.

  7. kiki Avatar
    kiki

    When fairer charging structures are eventually implemented to legal service providers and the license to print money for being the middle men in filling relevant legal forms have been replaced by a intuitive Court Service with the paperwork available on the internet, then law firms will have to reassess whether they need to keep high waged employees or bums on seats who have nothing to do. These ‘expert’ people who are judged as dispensable will obviously need to retrain in another field to stay employable. At least the next generation of lawyers will be more honest and genuine and keep to the codes of conduct to provide better services after the clean up of the industry has been performed and all the bad wood chopped out.

    Quasimoto – Don’t Blink

    Quasimoto – Low Class Conspiracy

  8. Amused Avatar
    Amused

    @Sapidillo // May 3, 2010 at 9:49 AM. I want to add to that. The penalties you suggest should be applied, not only against lawyers, but against the members of ANY profession that fail to adhere to the standards of that profession and to the law.

    In that spirit, therefore, and in keeping with some suggestions, I am looking forward to the days of everything on the internet. Law on the internet and allows me to file documents and prep my arguments and then a computer tells me whether I have won or lost (and there is no appeal, therefore no court of appeal) and it credits my account if I have won and debits it if I have lost. Mostly, I am looking forward to a world without people who bitch about lawyers – because there will be no lawyers to bitch about. Of course, they will bitch about the fees the internet charges and they will bitch about the decisions the internet imposes and they will spend endless hours researching and trying to prove that they are right and the internet is wrong (but have you ever noticed that bitchers/bitches are always right anyway, so same old, same old) – and they will not be happy, because there are no lawyers to bitch about – but I will be happy not to have to hear them bitch about lawyers at least. But they will bitch, of course, about the internet and through the internet. In other words, basically, they are just bitchers/bitches.

    OF COURSE, BY THIS TIME, BASIC LAW WILL BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS SO THAT THE INTERNET CAN BE ADEQUATELY INSTRUCTED BY ITS CLIENTS AND THE CALL BY BU FOR THIS WILL HAVE BEEN SATISFIED. It isn’t going to happen as a pie-in-the-sky dream of someone who has had a bad experience with a lawyer which may…….or may NOT……..have been the lawyer’s fault. It comes of education.

    Of course, for law alone, there will be a special program – a sort of a game that is only binding on the players themselves and not legally binding. It will be called “Write Your Own Law”. It will give all those who do not agree with the law the chance to invent their own and manufacture decisions as they would wish them to be. And in place of lawyer-bashing when they don’t get what they want because it isn’t yet written (because, remember you have to play this game with an opponent, even if it is a computer) you are entitled to bash your computer and even to complain (name and shame it) online. As it is inanimate, it cannot fight back. I suspect that this game will mostly appeal to those in accomodations where the walls are padded.

    In that vein, I am also looking forward to medicine on the internet (whereby I can feed in my symptoms and a computer tells me what is wrong with me and provides me with a prescription – or an operation). Then, there is accounting on the internet for those who have to file multiple tax returns in multiple countries. Interesting. The Inland Revenue will love that one too and all the little cash deals that some people have – kaput! Then, there is teaching where teachers are done away with and all pupils required to conform as to ability and everything else. Of course, there is also religion as decreed by the internet. What Utopia. I don’t think I will live long enough to see it – the concept of Big Brother made a reality and the handing over of human expertise and experience and where the computer programs the human, rather than the other way round – except in the Write Your Own Law game.

  9. GIGO Avatar
    GIGO

    Amused // May 8, 2010 at 4:54 AM ….In that spirit, therefore, and in keeping with some suggestions, I am looking forward to the days of everything on the internet. Law on the internet and allows me to file documents and prep my arguments and then a computer tells me whether I have won or lost (and there is no appeal, therefore no court of appeal) and it credits my account if I have won and debits it if I have lost. ………………..

    I notice you completely avoid the mention of the word truth in what you would like to see.

    In fact, until now, there is not one mention of the word in the blog or comments.

    Without truth, documents and arguments fall flat on their face, either at the time they are submitted or years later when the lie(s) is (are) exposed.

    Truth is simple.

    Truth does not require lawyers, thieving or not.

    Truth does not even require the internet.

    Truth gives lasting solutions, lies give convoluted ones which are marked by instability as exposure is inevitable.

    Truth will solve the problem of thieving lawyers which seems to be eating your soul case out ………

    …… Truth will set you free.

    Computers on the other hand, are known to operate on the GIGO principle.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_In,_Garbage_Out

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