Another attorney facing disbarment

The fate of an attorney-law who did not disclose to the General Legal Council (GLC) that he had convictions arising from two shoplifting incidents in the United States is to be decided by the Jamaican Supreme Court.

The GLC, the government body that regulates the legal profession locally, filed a claim on February 18, asking the court to grant an order striking Jermaine Anderson from the roll of attorneys eligible to practise in the courts in Jamaica.

The council is also asking the court to declare that the certificates of qualification for enrolment and the qualifying certificate issued to Anderson in October 2016 were obtained by fraud and accordingly be declared null and void.

It has stated that the certificates were exhibited and relied upon to support Anderson’s application for his enrolment, which was granted by the Supreme Court on December 7, 2016.

Anderson, according to court documents, pleaded guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct arising from two separate incidents of shoplifting when he appeared before the criminal court of the city of New York on July 30, 2013.

He was imprisoned for one day for one of the charges, while, on the other, he was given a conditional discharge for one year and was required to complete two days of community service.

Anderson’s situation has sparked concerns from some members of the legal fraternity who advise that honesty on the part of lawyers and those wishing to enter the profession must be maintained at all times.

The GLC said Anderson’s arrest and criminal convictions were discovered when it received a letter dated November 5, 2021 from Carol Aina, principal of the Norman Manley Law School.

Upon receipt of the letter, the GLC said it made enquiries of Anderson, who admitted that had been charged and that the cases arose from “incidents during which he had shoplifted goods from a store on two separate occasions”.

It was a pre-condition of Anderson’s application for enrolment as an attorney-at-law that he gave a voluntary declaration that he was of good character, had attained the age of 21, was not an alien and had no criminal record.

FALSE DECLARATION

Anderson reportedly said in the voluntary declaration that “I have never been arrested for or convicted of any criminal offence and there are no criminal charges pending against me”.

The GLC said Anderson’s false declaration on October 10, 2016 induced the GLC to issue to him a qualification for enrolment certificate and a qualifying certificate, both dated October 25, 2016.

Those certificates were required for his application to the court to be admitted as a lawyer. Then Chief Justice Zaila McCalla relied on the certificates in granting Anderson’s application.

Reports are that Anderson applied recently to be a member of the New York Bar. It was as a result of that application that the law school and the GLC were made aware of Anderson’s convictions.

The principal of the law school declined to comment on the case.

“The law school does not disclose information with respect to our students or graduates, in the absence of consent or an order of the court,” said Aina in an emailed response last Tuesday to questions, including whether Anderson made any declarations of his US cases and if he was required to do so.

Section ‘F’ of the school’s application form deals with ‘good character’, which a notation said is a requirement for admission to practise law.

The first of seven questions under the section asks applicants to indicate whether they have been found guilty of any offence in any jurisdiction. It excluded traffic fines.

The law firm Livingston, Alexander & Levy is representing the GLC and the application is set for hearing on June 1. A New York address is listed for Anderson on the claim form.

MAINTAINING INTEGRITY

President of the Advocates Association of Jamaica, Leonard Green, said last week that the legal profession requires that persons who seek to be admitted must be of good character.

“It is on that basis that the integrity of the profession is maintained. The public trust and confidence in the legal profession is essential for the proper administration of justice, and those who have criminal records that they do not disclose demonstrate by that conduct a lack of honesty,’ Green said.

He stressed that the better approach would be for persons who have had problems in the past to make full disclosure and provide some evidence that they have been rehabilitated.

Prominent attorney-at-law Bert Samuels says it is obvious that this law student, at the time, was not guided properly because full disclosure is required for the declaration to become counsel.

“The rules are very strict because even an acquittal at a criminal trial can be visited and used against an attorney,” Samuels added.

Samuels represented attorney-at-law Isat Buchanan for whom the GLC held a hearing to determine whether he should be granted a certificate of qualification to practise law in the island despite having two criminal convictions (one was expunged).

Unlike Anderson’s case, however, Buchanan declared his cases to the GLC when he had applied in 2017.

The GLC ultimately ruled in Buchanan’s favour, contending that he had been “fully rehabilitated and did not pose any undue risk to the public”.

The GLC also considered support statements from some of Buchanan’s law teachers, including former Court of Appeal president Justice Dennis Morrison, Dr Janeille Matthews, Dorcas White, Tracy Robinson, Dr Leighton Jackson, Dr Brian Heap and Dr Imani Tafari-Ama.

Buchanan has since been involved in several high-profile rights cases.

Messages to Anderson for a comment were not answered.

jovan.johnson@gleanerjm.com