Tell a friend:
 

06th Feburary 2010
Andie George speaks out…

The current President of the Saint Lucia Bar Association is Mr. Andie George. He talked about his first love football, the legal profession and the some of the achievements of the Bar Association under his presidency.
“I always wanted to be a professional football player, that was my first love, as a youngster there was very little opportunity to play football at the professional level…I went to the UK and studied transport engineering after leaving secondary school… became a Road Transport Engineer/Manager…in my final year of the programme, a lecturer called Alfred Gibbs Esq. who taught me Law and Mathematics, encouraged me to pursue legal studies ...”
Mr. Andie George has been in practice for about sixteen years, having been called to the Bar of St. Lucia in 1994. He has a distinctive combination: he did his law degree in England and completed his bar exams at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad. He is also a member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.
In his early years at the Bar he became known as a Criminal Lawyer. Although, he explained that he did not have a particular area of preference, he stated that Criminal law encouraged lawyers to think quickly on their feet because it was more oratory, whereas in Civil law there was more documentation which detracted from advocacy. Mr. George further stated that there was no area of law that he shied away from; he recently included in his legal practice Intellectual Property, with the registration of copyright and trademarks.
Mr. George always had an entrepreneurial mind. He started selling agricultural produce to the hotels from the age of fifteen, and later sporting equipment to the public. At eighteen, he owned and managed his own petrol station until he went to pursue further studies in England. He is a Director and one of the owners of GoodEats Ltd., the company which operates the Subway franchise in St. Lucia.
In fact, it is not uncommon for lawyers to also be in business. Mr. George agreed that a legal background assisted a business person because there were a lot of legal issues in business that one would be confronted with, for example, laws relating to Contract, Employment, Negligence and Customs. He further added that it was a good background because of the stature involved in the legal profession. He felt it afforded one a greater reach, in addition to the capability to deal with different legal issues.
Mr. George indicated that he was persuaded to run for the presidency of the Bar Association by some colleagues. As a former Council member within his first five years of practice, he found that the Bar was at its lowest ebb, and there was very little interest in its activities by the members of the association. In fact, he commented, that had it not been for the now Justice Jennifer Remy and a handful of dedicated members the Association would have been dead. According to Mr. George, Justice Remy kept the Bar alive in her two terms of service but that it barely survived due to lack of interest by its members. He lamented that he truly believed that if the Bar Association functioned properly, it could be a powerful association.
Mr. George has been the Bar President for about two and a half years, having been elected in June 2007. The nominees for the Executive and Council members will be gazetted later this month and elections will be held in March. One of his greatest challenges as Bar President, he claims is the lack of interest and commitment still shown by some members of the association.
“I have been asked by certain persons to run again. If I were to consider taking the position I would like to see the Bar Association become a professional body. Further, I believe the office of President should attract a stipend.”
It is voluntary for attorneys in Saint Lucia to become members of the Bar Association or indeed to pay their annual bar subscription fees. As a result, a number of lawyers do not pay their dues. Mr. George commented that he hoped that the legislation would be amended so that the Bar Association would be the body responsible for issuing the practising certificates and that the bar fees would be linked to them, making them both compulsory.
“The Association has a lot of work being done behind the scenes…for example; we now have a legal magazine which is intended to disseminate information about the legal profession. Lawyers should take the opportunity to write, and to enhance professionalism at the Bar…The Bar has also committed itself to refurbish the High Court Library at its own cost. In addition; we hosted the regional law fair in 2008 and hosted the 20th anniversary of the OECS Bar last December. We have also contributed to a number of charitable causes in Saint Lucia for example, the Paediatric Ward at Victoria Hospital, two schools in Dennery … More recently, we called up our members to donate monies to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti…”
The Bar President explained that when functions were hosted by the local bar association, it developed networks and linkages with other professionals within the region which would be of mutual benefit to members of the legal profession especially in light of regional integration. He emphasised that at the OECS Law Fair, there were professionals from beyond the region- UK, USA and Canada who attended.
He lauded the Law Fair as a successful continuing educational project, which was not obligatory for lawyers at this stage, but that he would like to see continuing education in some form become mandatory for lawyers in the near future. There will be a continuing education workshop in Saint Lucia hosted by the Bar Association in conjunction with the Advocates’ Society of Canada next month.
Mr. George had many plans for a possible second term as President, including setting up a Secretariat with a full-time lawyer, secretary and clerk in place to deal with queries, comments and complaints from the general bar and the public; the continuation of negotiations for professional indemnity insurance for lawyers; training programmes, seminars and workshops for lawyers, and more social activities for bar members. The Bar President also mentioned a Sports Day and Family Day earlier in his practice which he recalled was very successful and could be repeated. Further, the Bar President felt that the formation of several sub-committees to undertake various tasks had been constructive and should be continued.
 
 

When asked about the protest action taken by the Bar Association in September last year, Mr. George had this to say:
“I had been advocating for protest action for a while but the membership was not with me- a few persons felt that we should protest but most persons felt that we should write to the various agencies and attempt to hold meetings. I was fed up of meetings upon meetings and achieving nothing. Finally I got calls from a number of colleagues who said they had had enough then we decided to take protest action….
Many colleagues were fed up with the location of the Masters court, clearly there was a fungus issue, the walls were consistently moist, no public toilets or indeed toilets for lawyers…and it was really a health hazard. We arranged a meeting and the majority felt that we should protest.”
In addition, the Bar President stated that he had been advocating for better conditions and court facilities for quite some time, because he was of the opinion that if the Bar Association sat back and accepted the inadequate, improper and archaic facilities being provided to the judicial legal system, there would be no improvements. He said that in order to dispense justice properly, the quarters where this dispensation is done had to be of a sufficient standard.
According to the Bar President, the protest action had been a success, despite some persons misunderstanding its purpose. He sensed that it sent the Bar Association’s message across and that the Executive of the Bar would be following up on the promises made by the various agencies for improved facilities.
Mr. George was aware that the court was understaffed and underfunded. He felt the system should be modernised and must be made technologically savvy. He also said that the time had come for the Courts to be fully automated and that judges and magistrates should not have to be writing everything said in court. Parties should be able to obtain transcripts of the days proceedings at the end of the day. Further, the Bar President stated that the High Court, Land, Civil Status and Company Registries were not only understaffed but that there was a regular turn over of staff which did not allow for professionalism and continuity. He said that there should be more customer relations training for staff at the various registries, a problem he deemed extended to the wider community. Further, he felt that the hours of operation especially in the High Court Registry should be extended.
Mr. George commented briefly on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) indicating that he suspected that it was established without sufficient public consultation and because of this quite a number of persons are guarded against its full implementation. He was of the opinion that it was time that the islands made a serious commitment to making the CCJ the final appellate court in the Caribbean.
His advice to persons interested in the law was that they must have a love for the law. He sensed that there seemed to be the misconception that the profession bore only financial rewards. He said that persons coming into the profession must be prepared to work hard and function within the standards and ethics of the profession. He suggested that some lawyers were not prepared to work hard and wanted to get the benefits too early in their careers and as a result they do not operate within the established principles of the profession. He stated that unfortunately a few go down the wrong road. He thought if one worked hard, success would come, and the rewards would naturally follow. He commented that he would encourage young lawyers who had recently qualified to gain some experience through employment with organizations, agencies and/or law firms before opening their own chambers. He emphasised that a legal office was a very costly business to run, and there was no shortcut to success.
Beyond his busy legal practice and numerous duties as President of the Saint Lucia Bar Association, Mr. Andie George has many other commitments. Mr. George is a Director of a number of companies; one of the twenty six members of the Constitutional Reform Commission; member of the Allied Health Council; member of the Executive of the Hospitality Credit Union and Vice Chairman of the Castries Football Council.
 Ms. Trudy O. Glasgow is a practising attorney at the law firm Gordon, Gordon & Co., (and has also taught law at University level in the UK)*.
This column is for general use only, for advice specifically for your case, please see your lawyer.
Next week: Legal definitions of Insurance Law

Discuss Story
 
Top Stories  
 
 
   
Developed