Proposed Changes to Legal Profession Act Address Attorney Misconduct: Barbados Bar Association Sets Stricter Standards

In an effort to deal more effectively with attorneys stealing from their clients, the Barbados Bar Association has submitted sweeping changes to the Legal Profession Act, which includes a rigorous process of auditing attorney’s client accounts as well as a more rigid disciplinary procedure.

In addition, attorneys would also have to submit to mandatory yearly training in order to receive their practicing certificates.

These are just a few of the new proposals which the Association has submitted for a revised Legal Profession Bill, as it continues to be dogged by instances of attorneys stealing thousands of dollars, from their clients.

They are hoping the new rules would come into effect next year.

A press release submitted last week by the president, Kaye Williams, highlighted the new changes.

“Attorneys will face a tough new legislative and regulatory framework in 2024 if the changes for which the Barbados Bar Association has been asking are passed in a revised Legal Profession Bill. The Barbados Bar Association has been informed by the Law Reform Commission that a draft Bill will be provided no later than January 2024.

“One such proposal includes imposing pre-requisites that have to be met every year in order to practice. Annual practising certificates are currently granted ‘as a matter of course’ when the yearly fees are paid to the Supreme Court. This can no longer continue,” the association stated, adding it would not be “business as usual to obtain that certificate”.

“First, it is illegal for any attorney to practise law without a practising certificate and second, it will not be business as usual to obtain that certificate. Not only must members be subject each year to compulsory legal education training, the Barbados Bar Association has advocated for rigorous accounting rules which have to be met before any attorney can obtain their annual practising certificate. Every year, client accounts must be verified and audited and the reports certified and issued by accountants. There must be a legislative framework that not only provide for annual monitoring of client accounts, but also stiff penalties to ensure compliance,” the release stated.

It added: “Findings of theft from clients and related misconduct destroys the reputation of not only the profession but also Barbados as a business jurisdiction. The aim of the legislative provisions is to ensure that, each and every year, clients’ funds are safe and that clients’ accounts are in order before the issuance of a practising certificate to an attorney. The requirement for financial probity among attorneys is essential within the legal profession and indeed a requirement for the due administration of justice.”