Draft bill proposes advertising, mandatory training for lawyers

Barbados’ legal profession is set for its biggest overhaul in more than half a century, with draft legislation that would allow lawyers to advertise for the first time while imposing mandatory requirements for continuing education and stricter accountability.

A two-day symposium by the Law Reform Commission, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, is focusing on the Draft Legal Profession Bill that aims to replace the Legal Profession Act that has been in force since 1973, when there were only 192 practising lawyers in Barbados.

Chairman of the Law Reform Commission Sir David Simmons said the new legislation reflects legal, constitutional, and societal changes that have unfolded over the last 52 years.

“The draft Bill… engrafts onto original principles, new ideas, rules and principles to ensure that the Bill is reflective of and congruent with the several legal, constitutional and societal changes that have evolved,” Simmons said.

Major proposed reforms include the creation of professional legal companies; a framework for continuing legal education (CLE) and development; new accounting and compliance rules; and permission for attorneys to advertise their services.

Simmons noted that the Bill was not imposed without consultation, revealing that, following a year-long internal review, the Bar Association submitted a Table of Proposed Amendments and a report.

He further shared that the commission adopted the vast majority of the recommendations.

The chairman also warned that some parts of the Bill, especially those involving accounting and CLE, would require adequate staffing and support, advising a phased rollout to avoid overwhelming the system.

Delivering the keynote address, Attorney General Dale Marshall welcomed the reforms, describing them as long overdue.

“We are practising law in a very different environment to the time when it was Sir David and . . . other people,” he said. 

Marshall added that several issues the profession now faces, such as compliance, were unheard of in earlier years.

“Compliance was never something that we even thought about before. It is putting a tremendous financial burden on law firms… because of the administrative responsibility that goes with it,” he said.

He also raised an unresolved issue not addressed in the Bill—how to treat Barbadians trained outside the regional system who want to return and practise law.

“I have at least 10 or 12 letters from Barbadian individuals who… have a keen interest in coming back home. But obviously that presents a difficulty. It is something worth considering,” Marshall said.

The symposium will also hear from Jamaican attorney Annaliesa Lindsay, a member of her country’s General Legal Council, who has experience with similar reforms already implemented in Jamaica.

Simmons said the discussions would help “re-establish a strong foundation” for the legal profession in Barbados. (SM)