AT their admission to the Guyana Bar, Justice Bovel Drakes warned new entrants Alicia Robertson and Fiona Hamilton to beware of touts who would want a fee for finding them clients.

Quoting from the utterance of the now late Peter Britton SC, the judge warned the Berbicians not to speak to clients on the road, “but direct them to your chambers, and do not discuss client business with anyone.

“And if you like to talk in your sleep, be certain that you do not talk the people’s business,” he warned, even as the special invitees erupted in laughter within the packed courtroom of the Berbice High Court on Wednesday.

Their former Principal, Ms. Jacqueline Benn, was present at the proceedings.

The female lawyers, both former students of the New Amsterdam Multilateral School, were cautioned to be aware of clients who go “lawyer shopping.”

“My advice to you is to solicit a consultation fee, as they won’t leave with your knowledge without awarding you.”

The judge also advised the new lawyers to “show respect for the persons who are in charge of the court, whether it is the magistrate, judge or the commissioner.”
“Some lawyers believe that they have the capacity to handle the bench,” Justice Bovel Drakes noted.

He said he finds it difficult when some lawyers opt to sit in the public gallery, rather than in the place designated for attorneys.

“You have earned the right to sit at the inner part of the court, which is reserved for lawyers. Sit there,” he advised.

“In addition, your oath says, you must not be persuaded by lucre, but there are many lawyers who worship money. You may also find a client who also worships money…. You have to be careful. You are the person in charge of your practice, not your client. If they (clients) can control you, you are not the lawyer, you are their servant,” he admonished.

“Adopt a practice of recording everything your client tells you…. You should attend court to see what is happening. You have to see how a witness is cross-examined, how issues are put to the witness,” he admonished.

“I recall Senior Counsel Marcel Crawford, who you will never know now. He had an art in cross-examining the witness. He would subtlety befriend his witness before extracting the intended information, even before the witness realises it…. Cross examination is an art, and you have to learn it. It’s not about shouting…” he declared.

Concluding, the judge advised the Hugh Wooding Law School graduates not to think they have reached the highest point of their careers. “You have just begun your march, you were exposed to some elements of the law…the law has many elements. Your clients will come with different elements. You have to do a lot of research, as this law is developing and you are here to make a contribution to that development.”

Attorney-at-law, Mr. Tejnarine Ramroop, presenting the petition of Alicia Roxanne Robertson, said the twenty-six-year-old resident of Lot 68 Lichfield Village, West Coast Berbice had attended the Seafield and Lichfield Primary Schools and, on writing the Secondary School Entrance Examination, had secured a place at the New Amsterdam Secondary School (Multilateral). At that learning institution, Robertson secured nine passes at the Caribbean Examinations Council CSEC examinations and seven units at the Caribbean Examinations Council Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).
The latter resulted in her being awarded the best graduating CAPE student for the year 2005.

She subsequently taught for two years at the New Amsterdam Multilateral School, and was also a part-time tutor at the Berbice Branch of the University of Guyana’s Distance and Continuing Education during the same period, before she entered the University of Guyana and attained the Bachelor of Laws Degree. The petitioner then travelled to Trinidad, where, at the Hugh Wooding Law School, she completed the prescribed course of study and training for the Legal Education Certificate, and was thus awarded on September 5, 2014.

During her acceptance speech, Ms. Robertson said becoming an attorney-at-law had been her aspiration since she was eight years old, because she was intrigued by the peculiar attire and dress of the profession.
However, at eighteen, she realised it was much more than what reaches the eyes.

She has promised to strive to not just be a competent attorney but an exceptional one, exemplifying the highest level of skill, to improve the law and legal profession and to exemplify the legal professional’s ideals of public service.

Attorney-at-law, Adrian Anamayah, presenting the petition of Fiona Ruth Ann Hamilton, said the 24-year-old petitioner of Angoy’s Avenue, on the eastern fringe of New Amsterdam, secured nine subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Examinations Certificate and seven subjects at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations. She was adjudged the best graduating student in Caribbean History, and Food and Nutrition Unit 1 (CAPE).

Apart from striving for academic excellence, Ms. Hamilton excelled in extra-curricular activities, resulting in her being named Female Sports Personality at the New Amsterdam Multilateral School.

Apart from her Bachelor of law degree and the Certificate of Legal Education, Ms. Hamilton was awarded a Certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Negotiation and Mediation Skills Training from the Hugh Wooding Law School, Anamayah said.
In her acceptance speech, Ms. Hamilton promised to employ her energies to preserve the noble and esteemed tradition of the profession, while zealously seeking every available remedy for the cause of her clients.

She also promised to so conduct herself and the practice of her profession before the courts, to further the administration of justice, and maintain the honour and dignity of the profession.

The new attorneys have both expressed profound gratitude to their respective parents — Ernestine Blair and Charles Robertson, and Lindon and Donna Hamilton — and their respective churches, namely the St. Jude’s Anglican family of West Berbice and the Guyana Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, for their assistance and spiritual upliftment.