The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Ex-attorney general Carl Bethel QC has teamed up with Branville McCartney’s law firm as part of an expansion drive to help it cope with increased business volumes.

The former Democratic National Alliance (DNA) leader last night confirmed to Tribune Business that Mr Bethel has joined his Halsbury Chambers law firm as senior legal consultant, saying he “brings a wealth of knowledge” obtained by practicing law for 36 years.

The move, which took effect three weeks ago, comes as the law firm is hiring other attorneys in response to what Mr McCartney described as “an extremely busy” workload compared to the “partial go slow” that the Bahamian legal profession endured for much of 2020.

He told this newspaper that mortgage and conveyancing legal work has increased by “about 25 percent” since The Bahamas emerged from the worst of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Financial services work and related litigation has also increased, Mr McCartney said, as has divorce and bank foreclosures on delinquent borrowers.

Disclosing that Mr Bethel joined Halsbury Chambers three weeks ago, having vacated the Attorney General’s Office following the Minnis administration’s September 16 general election defeat, Mr McCartney said he comes with expertise in areas such as civil litigation, conveyancing, mortgages, investments “and extremely complex matters”.

“He brings a wealth of knowledge,” he added of Mr Bethel. “He’s been practicing law for about 26 years. I’ve been practicing for 31 years. He’s a QC, been attorney general twice, and has contacts throughout the judiciary locally and internationally. He brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and very good counsel.”

Mr McCartney said two other attorneys, Godfrey Perpall and Syann Thompson, were also joining Halsbury Chambers, and added: “We were looking to expand the firm a bit, and that’s what we did.”

He added that he approached Mr Bethel “about a month-and-a-half ago” following the Free National Movement’s (FMM) election defeat, adding that it occurred “when I was really in search of someone and he came to mind.

“I’ve known him for many, many years. I’ve known him since I started practicing law, and before my involvement in politics,” the ex-DNA leader added. “I’ve known him to be a very astute, hard working and intelligent lawyer, and he’ll bring those elements to the firm.”

Since leaving ministerial office, Mr Bethel has come under sustained attack from his successor as attorney general, Ryan Pinder, who said his predecessor had spent some $1.1m - or 30 percent of the funds paid to the Government’s foreign law firms between November 2017 and August 2021 - on the failed “political” prosecutions of Shane Gibson and Frank Smith.

Slamming what he branded as “several anomalies and questionable decisions” by Mr Bethel, the current attorney general also hit out at the former administration’s decision to hire two African prosecutors and allow them to sign off on multiple prosecutions despite not being allowed to practice in this nation by the Bahamas Bar Association.

A successful legal challenge subsequently resulted in the prosecution sign-offs by the duo being declared invalid by the Supreme Court due to the Bar’s rejection - a ruling that, if not overturned by the Court of Appeal, could impact some 160 cases.

Mr McCartney, meanwhile, said the volume of legal work coming to his firm is increasing as the economy continues to re-open post-COVID. Besides the continued increase in divorce-related matters, he added: “Surprisingly, we’ve seen an increase in mortgages and conveyances.

“It’s a different type of receipt of fees. It goes through the banks for the most party, and fees are paid in that regard. We’ve seen an increase in mortgages and conveyances, I would say to the tune of about 25 percent since the pandemic, and quite a few wills and probate matters have been coming in.”

However, the other side of real estate-related legal work has also increased despite the protection afforded to delinquent mortgage borrowers by the Homeowners Protection Act. “Unfortunately, to some extent, we’ve seen some increase in foreclosures,” Mr McCartney said.

“It’s modest. For the most part financial institutions are trying to work with the customer, but when it gets to the stage of lack of communication and there’s complete ignoring of their calls by the borrower, they will move towards that [foreclosure].

“The Homeowners Protection Act comes into play, and there’s the requirement to give the homeowner notice. It’s really helpful to the customer. Once that has been exhausted the bank moves forward. There’s legislation for the protection of the customer, but we’ve seen where - due to the economy and the pandemic - there’s been an increase in that area unfortunately.”

With legal business increasing across-the-board, Mr McCartney added: “It has picked up tremendously to the extent I would say that, a year ago, we were on a partial ‘go slow’, but it has certainly picked up to where we are extremely busy. I’m even in court trying to get the work out, something which I have been trying to shy away from.”

However, the economic devastation inflicted by COVID-19 means that many clients are struggling to pay their legal bills in full and on time. “There’s no shortage of work, but it’s a business,” the Halsbury Chambers chief said. “People, for the most part, don’t have the funds. What do you do?

“We’ve had clients for many, many years and you don’t turn your back on them. You help out where you can. You make payment arrangements and work with clients to take care of their legal needs. That applies across the board. It is based on people not having a job or working part-time, and that has a trickle down effect.”