It was a very proud occasion for the legal profession in the region as 18 lawyers who were entirely trained in Jamaica were admitted to the Bar. Their training will also allow them to better handle regional matters.

Published Tuesday, October 7, 1975

FIRST UWI-TRAINED ATTORNEYS ADMITTED

What the Chief Justice of  Jamaica, the Hon Kenneth Smith, described as a "truly historic occasion" occurred in the No. 1 Home Circuit Court yesterday when the first 18 graduates of the Norman Manley Law School were admitted to the Bar.

Calling the graduates a "new breed of lawyers" the chief justice explained they were the first to be entirely trained in the West Indies. Previously, barristers were trained in England: solicitors were trained here but sat an exam by the Law Society in England.

"This first batch of graduates of the law faculty of the University of the West Indies has attained a standard of excellence which perhaps will follow that the brilliant student will be the brilliant advocate, but it is appropriate that the very high standard that has been attained by these students should be mentioned here today."

He felt that this high standard was possible not only because of the quality of the graduates themselves but because of the quality of the leadership and tuition they had received.

The Attorney General, the Hon Leacroft Robinson, called the graduates the “first truly fused legal practitioners”. He said: “They are not barristers, they are not solicitors, they are lawyers, and they are entirely products of the West Indies.”

Mr Robinson said the young graduates were pioneers, and their conduct, their performance, and their integrity would set the standard for those who would follow.

“Let us pray they will retain standards that will redound to the credit of all the legal practitioners of this country and of the University of the West Indies, ” he concluded.

Dr Lloyd Barnett, president of the Bar Association, said: “We have high hopes of them.”

The Bar hoped that these young lawyers who had trained in a West Indies atmosphere with a syllabus directed towards local problems would help in the establishment of a system of law which would be adapted to the particular needs of the West Indies, Dr Barnett said.

Mr David Muirhead, QC, Chairman of the General Legal Council, said he hoped one day to see graduates of the Norman Manley Law School sitting on the Bench. He told them there was no nobler office to which they could aspire. 

Mr Cecil Morrison, replying on behalf of the new attorneys, said the ceremony was the end of a long load, and the beginning of a new path. Some had referred to them as pioneers, and the Chief Justice had called them a “new breed” yet they felt themselves more like “guinea pigs”, he said.

They all believed, however, that lawyers trained in the West Indies should maintain the highest standards. It was their aim to make their professional lives worthy of those who had trod the path before.

The graduates are: George Aston Belnavis, Jennifer Rowe, Elizabeth Robinson, Maurice Saunders, Denise Hemming, Eileen Boxill, Franz Parke, Stephen Shelton, Ronald Paris, Roy Stephenson, Cecil Morrison, Dawn Paris, Langston Sibblies, Rudolph Smellie, Verletta Green, Angela Marie HO-ON, Marie Thompson and Murrio Ducille.

On the bench for admission were Chief Justice White and Mr Justice Carey, and Mr Aubrey Fraser, director of the Norman Manley Law School.

The new attorneys were sponsored by several attorneys, including Mr Norman Hill, QC, and Mr David Muirhead, QC, Mr Richard Small, Mr Hugh Small, Dr Lloyd Barnett, Mr Derek Jones, Mr R.N. Henriques, Mr W.A. Scholefield, Mr Lancelot Cowan, and Mr G.M. Miller.

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