The PM’s statement is of such import that the full report on it requires repetition. Here it is:

PRIME MINISTER Freundel Stuart on Tuesday came to the defence of the legal profession, noting that Barbadians were often too quick to criticize lawyers for charging exorbitantly high fees for their services.

Speaking in the House of Assembly on amendments to the Land (Title Proceedings) Bill 2011, Stuart said that in the best of “all possible worlds” , the public would have to pay “nothing at all” for the services offered by various professionals, but that was not feasible.

But how could it be reasonable, he asked, for people seeking title deeds for property valued at $400 000 to pay a legal fee in the amount of $200.

To this end, he said that while no one said anything about the expensive homes being built or the high cost of the land, yet they would question the fees being charged by lawyers facilitating the process.

“I don’t subscribe to that,” said Stuart, noting that the bank charges were not questioned, nor were the fees charged by doctors, dentists and other professionals.

Yet, it was somehow expected that lawyers who were involved in “big transactions” were expected to charge small fees, he said.

He acknowledged that the system could be abused, but as a lawyer himself, his experience was that for the most part lawyers charged according to the particular case and circumstance of the client.

“You can’t expect a lawyer to work on a big transaction and find fault with his fees. The fees charged by doctors or dentists are not a problem.”

To his mind, Government had done its part in bringing the amended legislation to the floor of Parliament to bring an end to the “lacuna” in which Barbados found itself.

This, he said, was as a result of the issue of a practice direction issued by a former Chief Justice that resulted in the Registrar of the Supreme Court and its staff being reluctant to issue new title deeds.

This had for since October 2009 resulted in a backlog of title suits that had affected small landowners and big developers as well.

“It had affected all classes,” Stuart said, adding that the new legislation would bring “clear procedure” and “clarity” to the acquisition of land titles.

To this end, he gave credit to Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite and his staff for a job well done in bringing the comprehensive new legislation to Parliament.

Stuart is comparing Lawyers charging fees based on land values with the fees charged by Doctors and dentists and perhaps architects and other professionals.

Is he comparing like with like?

Do Lawyers have to do more work (spend more of their valuable time and scarce skills) in direct proportion with the cost of the land or property being sold or bought?

How can this be compared with an architect, let’s say, whose charges are, as far as I understand, based on the value of the property being built which must be directly proportional to the architectural work and specialist skills necessary for developing unique plans to fit specific situations?

Lawyer’s work in the area of property transactions is often boiler plate as the success of Online legal conveyancing and other solutions in the US can demonstrate and should really be subject to strict fee structures.

Do Medical doctors or specialists charge according to the status of their patients or is there a generally fixed fee based on the Doctor’s specialization?

Seems to me that the PM is saying that a Lawyer would be justified if he/she charged ding ding 1,000 dollars for conveying a property valued at 100,000 dollars and Bizzy Williams 50,000 dollars for conveying an equivalent property next door when the actual work involved in either case, based on time spent etc., could only be valued at say 150 dollars.

“But how could it be reasonable, he asked, for people seeking title deeds for property valued at $400 000 to pay a legal fee in the amount of $200.”

With all due respect to whoever wrote the above, that could be the value of a wood and wall house on half acre of land. The owner could be a small farmer who makes little more than minimum wage.

For those of us who can afford the fees the problem is the length of time it takes to get the work done.

There is no excuse for incompetence.

I gine an watch windies play Ireland.

Bim is in danger of becoming the laughing-stock of d Eastern Caribbean, or is d West! lol!! is all d same ting anyway!!

should b ‘let me have my brekkie (breakfast) hay in London’!! 🙂

The PM’s statement, though infelicitously phrased, is correct, but only in the extremely narrow context in which it was made.

It has been pointed out to me by a friend, the PM is guilty of cherry picking. I have to concede that point. The PM has not addressed or even mentioned the inequities practiced by some lawyers in the matter of billing and retainers. It is those that have given the legal profession a stinking name – and rightly. The public is up in arms – and rightly.

There are still some top lawyers who charge a consultation fee of a minimal amount and, if they agree to take the case, you never see another bill from them until the case is concluded. Unfortunately, in our society which cannot afford it, the malaise of countries like Canada and the UK, where there is greater access to legal aid and where there is also access to lawyers who will work on contingency (no win no fee) has become the norm. Many clients in Barbados are charged for everything, even down to photocopying at a 100% and more mark-up for each page. Thus have many lawyers colluded in removing justice from the people and handing it over lock, stock and barrel, to those who can afford the fees, whether they are correct in law or not. In Barbados, might is right.

In the context in which the PM made his statement, he is correct. However, his statement cannot be seen by the man in the street as other than a generalization and defence of lawyers in general. That is unfortunate.

I wholeheartedly agree that it is high time for a system to be put in place that allows people access to law without having to go near a lawyers office. In many cases, it is possible to post forms and directions online and also to accept filing online, in a way that can be followed and adhered to by the general public. This would significantly reduce the costs of legal processes in a lot of cases and it would speed up the whole process of justice and of the courts. The larger countries have these systems and it is high time that Barbados did as well. And so what if some of the less successful lawyers have to go and find work in other fields of endeavour and the membership of the Bar is correspondingly reduced?

And once again I raise the issue oft-raised by BU that it is time that basic law became a part of the schools curriculum as it is an integral and inescapable part of birth, life and death – as important as being able to cook a meal. You learn to cook for yourself, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t go to a restaurant to enjoy the services of a top chef. Similarly, you may be able to look after basic legal matters yourself in a legal system that is more user-friendly to the general public, but that doesn’t mean that you will not from time to time require the services of a lawyer for more complex matters.

My family have just completed the sale of a family property in the UK. House value 300,000 pounds. Legal fees? 750 pounds, including stamp duty. Real estate commission? 1.25% – in Barbados the going rate is 5%. It is also possible to have the conveyancing done by a para legal, or even by yourself, if you have the time. As per “Checkit Out”, these are boilerplate transactions, with not one iota of work more being done for any conveyance, regardless of the value.

I hear horror stories constantly of lawyers who run off with clients money, who do not pay when they contract the services of individuals and there is no justice because they make an agreement to repay the money and then take their time paying it back.

It is time we hit the streets and protest. The merchants, the utility companies, the politicians all think we are fools.
Just heard that the BL&P BILLS will soon be increased because of fuel prices, yet when the price of oil went down our light bills didn’t move in terms of prices. This foolishness must stop.

It seems Leroy Lynch a prominent local lawyer and a bank is at loggerheads with Lynch appearing in Court today to answer charges.

so according to the PM, there’s no particular fee, u are charged according to the cost of ur property. so even tho the paper work is basically the same for property worth $20,000 as for one worth $100,000, the lawyer has the right charge base on cost of property. i never knew that before, a dentist and doctor performs various services and dimensions of services so their fees would vary – that is understandable. i never admired the PM and I admire him less know… he only showed me what i came along hearing about the blackness one skin in comparison to their personality

actually the work for the 100,000 might be even less than for the 20,000 since the land has probably been less subdivided and easier path to find in title deeds. at this point i think a fixed fee based on group size would be better since people wouldn’t feel cheated by lawyers or BBA release a fee chart for group of sizes of land once there isn’t exceptional case. in those evidence is shown for exception.

David

What’s the story on Leroy Lynch? Did I miss something? Are there any articles?

There can be no doubt the arrest of Leroy Lynch must have struck the legal profession hard.

He has always been seen as one of the more reputable legal eagles who is old school.

@anthony

Pilgrim can’t do it alone. The legal fraternity is a powerful group with deep agendas whose tentacles are deeply rooted in the Barbados landscape.

Some lawyers have started to avail themselves of the anonymity which BU provides to expose the underbelly of the justice system in Barbados. Many don’t like what is happening.

BU sends out the invitation to other lawyers to help in the fight to clean up the profession, the status quo is not going to cut it any longer, the tipping point is in sight.

@David,

The Good Bajan lawyers ( there are some) need to step up and help stop the rot.

I know a gentleman who worked till retirement, “deposited” his savings with a lawyer and lost it all.

He now has to live out the rest of his days in the cold because his dream to retire in Barbados was destroyed.

Some overseas Bajans are now very sceptical about retiring in Barbados because of difficulties with Lawyers.

My suggestion to Bajans in Canada is to always keep a substantial amount of your savings in one of the Canadian Banks that have a Trust division in Barbados.
It will cost you extra but you could do major transactions through a Trust division of a Canadian Bank.
Royal,Scotia,Cibc.

I don’t know anything about the UK or USA banking system so I can’t make suggestions about their Banks.

Is this the first time a lawyer has been remanded for a white collar crime in Barbados?

Barbados is fast becoming the laughing stock of the Caribbean. The PM badly wants to make it the envy of the Caribbean but with the number of thiefing lawyers we have here it will be a very difficult task. “Barbados is a nation of thieves” quoted the late Errol Barrow. The chickens are coming home to roost. It is time to clean up our act. From Politicians, lawyers, doctors, civil servants, merchants and the rest of the population. We have a long uphill battle.

Lemme tell all wunna lawyers, when ah selling myh property, I am demanding that my money be paid to me in my bank account by the buyer. I don’t want nuh lawyer touching muh money at all, even eff he is muh good friend. Or put in an escrow account in my name until all transactions have been finalised. There must be some lawyer who can give some free advice on how to avoid putting large sums of money in dem hands.

@David

He has always been seen as one of the more reputable legal eagles who is old school.
*****************
Alas poor Leroy! How the mighty have fallen.

Scratch the surface of many of these “reputable” lawyers and there is a scandal waiting to happen. I keep saying that there is nothing to prevent clients’ funds being used by lawyers for their own purposes. No segregation of funds, no oversight, no one to appeal to, no punishment, nada, nothing, zilch.

There is not enough business to go around for the many lawyers practicing in Barbados for them all to be enjoying successful careers. There are a few who represent Corporate interests who do alright but the majority who represent the B&E artists, or represent those charged with wounding, loitering etc. barely eke out a living. No wonder many of them join political parties in the hope that they will be elected to Parliament.

They have all these appearances to keep up, so if the car, mortgage or other Bank loan is due and you “borrow” funds to cover these amounts, then you “borrow” to cover your borrowings and soon enough you are up $hit creek.

I keep hearing stories up here about lawyers and interminable delays or funds being withheld for an inordinate amount of time. As recently as this evening I was having a conversation with a friend about a totally unrelated issue when out of the blue he told me about a mutual acquaintance who resides up North and who was defrauded by his cousin (a lawyer). Seems that there was some family property which should have been inherited by this friend after the death of his father but the cousin was left in charge due to the professional status and helped themselves to the property.

Where there is smoke there is fire.

Hants

Put 20 Bajans in a room up here and 10 will tell you “lawyer” stories and none of them will be complimentary o lawyers.

Here are two quotations from Mark Twain:

I believe you keep a lawyer. I have always kept a lawyer, too, though I have never made anything out of him. It is a service to an author to have a lawyer. There is something so disagreeable in having a personal contact with a publisher. So it is better to work through a lawyer–and lose your case.

Lawyers are like other people–fools on the average; but it is easier for an ass to succeed in that trade than any other

David, you really dont know Leroy Lynch. He is a SOB.

Normally when a lawyer comes before a judge the whole fraternity does down tau and run to appear in defense… Wah happen, dis Leroy ain’ got nah friends?

Lemme tell all wunna lawyers, when ah selling myh property, I am demanding that my money be paid to me in my bank account by the buyer. I don’t want nuh lawyer touching muh money at all, even eff he is muh good friend. Or put in an escrow account in my name until all transactions have been finalised. There must be some lawyer who can give some free advice on how to avoid putting large sums of money in dem hands.
How to become a lawyer