Written by George Barclay
ACTING Chief Justice Mr. Ian Chang, SC, on Tuesday admitted two lawyers — Brenden Phillip Duncan Glasford and Merecedes Thompson — to the Guyana Bar.

Their petitions for admission were presented by Senior Counsel Rex Mc Kay and Justice Stanley Moore, a Judge of the West Indies.

Mr. Mc Kay told the court, “Today must be one of the happiest days in the lives of your petitioners’ parents, Mrs. Bettina Glasford and Mr. Brian Glasford; and Mrs. Hazel Thompson and Mr. Patrick Thompson, who are present in court today; into whose care and custody the petitioners were committed for 24 years.”

Mr. Mc Kay said both petitioners are 24 years old. Brenden, he said, commenced his early education at May’s Under 12 and Secondary School. After completing his CXC exams, he attended School of the Nations, where he sat his O and A level examinations, before doing pre-law leading to his studies for the LL.B., from which he graduated with credit in 2011.

Brenden then attended the Hugh Wooding Law School in 2011, and graduated in October, 2013 with the Certificate of Legal Education.

Mercedes commenced her early education at South Road Nursery School, before she attended the Sacred Heart Primary School, where she wrote the Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (SSEE) and was awarded a place at St Joseph’s High School. Thereafter, she attended Bishop’s High School and completed her CAPE exams, before attending the Hugh Wooding Law School in 2011 and graduating in October, 2013 with the Certificate of Legal Education.

Senior Counsel Mc Kay noted, “Your petitioners for admission to practise are coming to the profession at challenging times, when serious crimes are being committed; when constitutional and administrative abuses are prevalent; when corruption in high and low places is an everyday hue and cry; when unlawful encroachment of, and grabbing of, lands is the norm, with its concomitant petition for prescriptive title; when citizens are mangled and crippled, and sometimes die by the dangerous driving of motor vehicles without receiving adequate or any compensation.

“Your petitioners have a wide field of topics from the above pool, in any one or more of which they can win their spurs.
Every practising lawyer must realise the nature of the functions he is expected to perform.

“To be of use to society, especially in a developing country, a practising lawyer must first be efficient. He must have, and profess to have, competence. A lawyer, it is said, never stops learning. If he is to serve efficiently, he must be proficient in what he practises, and the practice of law requires – in fact demands – a perpetual application to, and awareness of, recent judicial precedents and awareness.”

Senior Counsel Mc Kay went on to say that Brenden Glasford and Mercedes Thompson must strive in their utmost endeavours to live up to the oath they have taken, the upright standards and exacting expectations at the Bar, and the expectations of the public at large.

The Chief Justice congratulated the new entrants and wished them every success in the future. They, in response, thanked the Chief Justice for admitting them to the Bar, and for his kind advice.

They also thanked Messrs Mc Kay and Moore for presenting their petitions, and their tutors and parents for their guidance.