Lawyers

Why do Anguillians not sue lawyers more often? I have credible stories recently about the activities of a lawyer in Anguilla. Two of the statements involved the lawyer helping his client to steal land from two absentee Santo Domingo Anguillian descendents. The third involved tricking a 90 year old terrified woman into signing documents that she had not requested and knew nothing about.

I asked one of my Santo Domingo informants why the attorney had not been sued. She explained that the owner lived in Santo Domingo. That person would have to be the one bringing the court action. That person is an elderly impoverished labourer and lacks the resources to bring an action in Anguilla. My informant did not have the ability to bring the suit for the client. She does not have the necessary first-hand knowledge of the facts that would be needed for admissible testimony. Nor does she have the money to spend on protecting someone else’s land. So, it looks as if the lawyer and his crooked clients may well succeed in successfully stealing the properties. All this assuming that the story I have been told is true and correct.

As for the family of the old lady, their incident relates to the same lawyer. They are not bringing any legal proceedings either. They do not believe that she could have been persuaded by the lawyer to sign over anything that would affect them. I hope they are right. As I explained to them, if they wait until she is dead to protest, it will not be very credible. They would be expected to have sued immediately they learned of the fraud. They will never be able to answer the question, whey did you not bring this claim while the old lady was still alive? It will be difficult for them to refute the allegation that they waited until the old lady died to make this claim. It will look very bad for them.

It is not that we are like some islands of the West Indies where when you complain about an important lawyer you are likely to be awakened by the police in the middle of the night and subject to a vaginal search. Our police would not have any hesitation in arresting any attorney at law in Anguilla. They would be happy to arrest some.

Is it that Anguillians are so respectful towards lawyers that even when we are robbed in this way we cannot believe that the lawyer was to blame? That does not seem very likely knowing the fiercely independent spirit of most Anguillians.

It could not be because we still believe, "It is impossible to get a lawyer in Anguilla to go against another lawyer." That nonsense cannot still be repeated.

Is it that only foreigners have the resources to pursue the crooked lawyer, and we prefer not to throw good money after bad? Surely, most Anguillians know how to find the money to defend themselves.

Is it that we have so little confidence in our judicial system that we believe the judges are part of the problem? Nonsense, this is the OECS, not Barbados.

Could it be that we simply do not know who to complain to? That is unlikely. We know there is the judge, the governor and the Chief Justice. Any of them would kick up a stink on our behalf if any credible allegation was made against an Anguillian lawyer.

Is it that we are too embarrassed to complain? Perhaps we fear we will be thought stupid by our friends and neighbours for having allowed ourselves to have been tricked? That is always possible.

Is it simply a fear of appearing to rock the boat in a small community where everyone is related to everyone else? That is the explanation of much of the acceptance of wrongdoing among our "Christian" leaders. When the pastor runs off with my wife, or the businessman impregnates two of my daughters in the same year, I learn to grin and bear it.

Is it that our expectations of our lawyers and our leaders have fallen so low that we just shrug our weary shoulders and prefer to move on? Almost certainly.

Or, is it just that we have developed such low standards for ourselves that we shrug our own shoulders and wink at another successful trickster among us? I certainly hope not.