By RICARDO WELLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
rwells@tribunemedia.net
THE work of the late Colin Callender cannot be quantified by the cases he won or the battles he fought but can only be summed up by the impact he had on the Bahamian legal profession and the lives he touched over the years, according to his law partner Fred Smith.
Mr Callender, a Queen’s Counsel, died on Sunday at the age of 74.
Mr Smith, managing partner at Callenders & Co’s Freeport office, said history will remember Mr Callender as the “silver fox” of their partnership because of his sense of humanity.
“He was a man who always had the ability to calm tensions no matter how extreme or severe the issue. Service above self was his motif,” said Mr Smith, remembering his partner of nearly 40 years. “Colin had to be the most tolerant person I knew, as partner, to work with me and the cases I often opted to go for, taking into account the antagonistic nature of the cases. He was always there with me and supported the moves. He was a prototypical gentleman that earned all the respect he got through his hard work and dedication to making the profession better.”
Mr Smith succeeds Mr Callender as Managing Partner of the law firm, the oldest in The Bahamas.
“Colin Callender occupied a singular position in the legal community and the broader world of The Bahamas,” said Lester J Mortimer, QC, one of seven partners in the country’s only firm that until Callender’s death had three practicing attorneys awarded Queen’s Counsel honours.
“Colin headed the firm but was always as eager and willing to listen as he was to direct,” he said. “That created a legal corporate culture that will enable us to carry on with the extraordinarily high standards he stood for and retain the trust and loyalty of so many clients, colleagues and friends. It was trust earned through hard work, diligence and dedication by Colin and by the team he led for decades. Each of us today has vowed to allow his life to inspire us and everything he did to drive us.”
Mr Callender was known for his professional expertise in the field of commercial insolvency and litigation.
President of the Bahamas Bar Association Elsworth Johnson said Mr Callender’s death was a loss to the legal community.
“He has done a lot in terms of enriching the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, developing laws and assisting in the Bar,” he said. “On behalf of the Bar Council and the Bar Association, I extend condolences to his family, friends, and indeed the Bar is in mourning like any member that passed,” he added.
Mr Callender was the grandson of W.E.S. Callender, the founder of Callenders & Co, in 1903. The firm had been headed by a family member since. He also served as the chairman of the board of directors of The Nassau Guardian and as the director of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL), to which he was appointed in 2011, only one of five lawyers outside the US to be so honoured. He was described as a devoted family man who loved nature, with commitments to the Bahamas National Trust and the Royal Nassau Sailing Club.
He was instrumental in bringing protection for the Nassau grouper.
He leaves a wife, Sherrill, children Christy, Jason and Leslie, and the grandchildren.
See Letters, page four
Comments
RUKiddingMe 9 years ago
Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.
stlslez - You have managed to make a complete ass of yourself with this statement. Perhaps you should remain in school or return there - you obviously have no concept of compassion nor do you have the first clue about history.
Gladiator 9 years ago
stislez you really are dumb fcking asshle who ought to shut the fck up and have a little respect. Go back to school and learn how to write you pathetic piece of sht.
EnoughIsEnough 9 years ago
stislez, if you want to be accurate in your hatred and intolerance, then take it back to your own AFrican roots who were very complicit in partnering with the "white man" in the the slave trade. And understand that slave trading was part of AFrican culture much earlier than the white man came along. Here is a quote and then a link so that you can better inform yourself:
"The historical record is incontrovertible—as documented in the PBS Africans in America series companion book: The white man did not introduce slavery to Africa . . . . And by the fifteenth century, men with dark skin had become quite comfortable with the concept of man as property . . . . Long before the arrival of Europeans on West Africa’s coast, the two continents shared a common acceptance of slavery as an unavoidable and necessary—perhaps even desirable—fact of existence. The commerce between the two continents, as tragic as it would become, developed upon familiar territory. Slavery was not a twisted European manipulation, although Europe capitalized on a mutual understanding and greedily expanded the slave trade into what would become a horrific enterprise . . . . It was a thunder that had no sound. Tribe stalked tribe, and eventually more than 20 million Africans would be kidnapped in their own homeland. "
See this link if you would like to be educated - and many, many more articles, documentaries etc on the origin of probably the worse crimes against humanity in history - where the black man was as much a partner as the white man. perhaps worse - selling your own people.
http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/4…
However, i agree with Gladiator and K4C - your anger and hatred is, firstly, very unchristian and secondly and most importantly it is the very root of the problem of why our country is in the state that it is in. You want to hate every white man because of what happened before you were born? Should the white man hate and fear every black man because some are killers, rapists, drug addicts? Should the white man hate all black men because some have made their wealth from drug running, underhanded business deals, partnering with the illegal numbers houses, etc?? you, my friend, must let get of your narrowmindedness and if you truly love your Bahamaland then you must figure out how to turn your hatred into a positive otherwise you will be swimming in your own self-perpetuated hate and filth.
themessenger 9 years ago
I'll say it again; every time I think that the level of ignorance displayed by my Bahamian people can go no lower they always manage to surprise me. They won't let you down, they won't disappoint you.
sheeprunner12 9 years ago
Whether a person likes/respects the white man or not .............. it is indisputable that they enjoy an enviable level of privilege in our society ............. thanks to their colonial headstart. Some people just express it in crude forms ................................but it is what it is (PGC)
themessenger 9 years ago
Are you serious Sheeprunner?? Last time I checked Black folks been in charge here for the last 45 years and I certainly wouldn't call the Pindlings, Maynard's, Gibsons, Finlaysons and other of that ilk and hue underprivileged by any stretch of imagination. What he said was just plain ugly and disrespectful, I wonder how he would feel if someone referred to a deceased relative of his as a scrubby black tiefin negro?
sheeprunner12 9 years ago
OK messenger ................. do the math ......... English came here in 1648. Now take away 1648 from 1973 ............. and what you get for an answer????????? Now compare that to 45 years.
Colonialism and slavery gave the white people a headstart .............. you don't agree?????
RUKiddingMe 9 years ago
So what you are saying is that since slavery was abolished (incidentally that was in 1834 - 181 years ago) - that EVERY white Bahamian is guilty of both slavery and colonialism? Man give your head a shake - history shows us that . . .
Thousands of captive Africans, who were liberated from foreign slave ships by the British navy after the abolition of the slave trade were resettled as FREE PERSONS in the Bahamas.
In the early 1820s, hundreds of African slaves and Seminoles escaped from Florida, most settling on Andros Island in the Bahamas. Three hundred escaped in a mass flight in 1823. While the flow was reduced by federal construction of a lighthouse at Cape Florida in 1825, slaves continued to find freedom in the Bahamas.
In August 1834, the traditional plantation life ended with the British emancipation of slaves throughout most of its colonies. Freedmen chose to work on their own small plots of land when possible.
The attitude that one colour is more worthy than another is a slap in the face to the many, both white and black, who have worked hard to educate themselves and establish thriving businesses in The Bahamas.
It seems to me that those who grasp onto these divisive attitudes are mainly those who mistakenly believe that the world owes them something for nothing and use the past as justification for their slackness.
SP 9 years ago
Newly emancipated free slaves were FREE to do what exactly?
Were they free to attend white schools? Were there any schools at all for blacks while whites were attending the best universities? Free to traverse the Island unencumbered at will? Free to associate with whites? Free to trade with whites? trade what? were they considered EQUAL to whites then and are blacks even considered EQUAL NOW?
As late as 1964 FREE blacks still couldn't work in Bay Street shops, banks, go to Savoy theater, check into Sheraton hotel , attend certain schools etc. So what were these people actually FREE to do? Dine at the sailing club perhaps?
Being arrogant enough to suggest others are so ignorant as to believe todays white Bahamians are guilty of slavery and colonialism is in itself an insult to ones intelligence.
Sheeprunner12 is absolutely correct...Colonialism and slavery unquestionably gave white people a head start in education, commerce and finance. History cannot be denied. Facts are facts!
Alternatively, one would have to be ultimately naive to believe whites are just naturally superior and more intelligent than blacks to justify the gap and upper hand they posses, instead of the historical data showing generations of education and inheritances!
Genuine heart felt condolences to the Callender Family.
jus2cents 9 years ago
My Condolences to the whole Callender Family and his friends and co-workers, of whom there are many. We have lost a true Gentleman and very good soul, he contributed greatly to the country he loved with the same passion he brought to everything he did.
I wish he could have had a lot more years with us, this nation needs people like Colin Callender now more than ever.
His soul will Rest Peacefully, his legacy is an honorable one, and his wife and children will continue to make him proud, because he showed them that living with graciousness is the ONLY way to exist.
You will always be here, in our hearts.
Smooth sailing Mr Callender.
themessenger 9 years ago
My brother you are missing the point and it has nothing to do with maths or who got a head start or even who's ahead now. It's about respect for one another and common decency which is quite uncommon in our country these days, have a great day.
MonkeeDoo 9 years ago
Who is K4C writing about and where are that persons postings to be found. I am totally lost on this conversation. Interesting discussion nonetheless.
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