A total of 28 new attorneys took the oath, signed the roll and were robed and wigged in Supreme Court ceremonies held last week.

Those called to The Bahamas Bar–in three separate ceremonies–were urged to uphold the integrity of the courts.

“You are officers of this court. You are therefore an essential part of the efficient administration of justice,” said chief justice Sir Michael Barnett in acceding to petitions made on the attorneys’ behalf. “With this privilege is an awesome responsibility. That responsibility is not to be part of the problem to the adminstration of justice, but part of the solution.”

This could be achieved, he said, if new attorneys honoured the Code of Professional Conduct. The chief justice said it was their “solemn obligation” to know and comply with the code, as it was what they had sworn to do.

“Simply put, your job is to help ensure that the system works,” he said. “It is your job not to give sustenance to the notion that the intervention of lawyers has the inherent consequence of delaying or hindering the efficient, fair and economic disposal of cases.”

In his brief welcome, vice president of The Bahamas Bar Association, Elsworth Johnson, encouraged lawyers to “act as a bulwark,” ensuring that the fundamental right of every individual in The Bahamas is safeguarded.

Charging that the legal profession had grown old and stale, Arthur Hanna, director of the Eugene Dupuch Law School’s Legal Aid Clinic, said now was the time for some “fresh ideas.”

“We need new ideas and we need new vigor. I think this group of graduates will surprise you, but I will admonish them that the road is not easy. The road is very hard. You will cross paths with attorneys who are not honourable and those whose words will not be their bond,”?he said.

“New attorneys will learn over time who they can and cannot rely on,” he added.

Hanna also offered a piece of advice: “Ensure that your word becomes your bond.”

“Our seven years experience on the journey to become lawyers did not make us liars, but on the contrary it made us leaders; to be an example of the right thing to do and the right way to go,” said new attorney Lanisha Tamar Rolle, speaking on behalf of the group.

This latest batch of lawyers were presented before the Supreme Court in three ceremonies–held towards the end of last week.

(L-R) Tonique Lewis, Shivron Gray, Nathan Schreiner Smith and Lisalette Gibson take the oath.

tblair@dupuch.com