This weekend, the Bahamas Bar Association (BBA) will host its annual Training Day and Retreat purposed to provide an opportunity for local attorneys to be thoroughly trained and further educated.
With the 1,300 members of the BBA mostly junior members of the bar, BBA President Elsworth Johnson said it is imperative that they all be further cultivated.
He said the training will be beneficial to new attorneys as well as it will be for experienced attorneys.
Mr. Johnson said the workshop will consist of influential speakers who will teach attorneys what they need to know in order to sharpen their skills.
“The primary purpose of the Training Day is to provide critical training sessions for all attorneys in order to facilitate continued professional development and allow for all legal practitioners to remain current with global trends and to better serve the public,” said Mr. Johnson.
“The Bahamas Bar Council has recognized that there is a growing need to ensure the members are continuously trained in their respective areas. Changes are taking place daily within the global arena, changes that mandate the need for attorneys to stay on the cutting edge of the law and fully apprised of international jurisprudence that has the potential to impact the interpretation and understanding of our domestic laws.”
Chairman of the BBA Alfred Sears said the workshop will soon become mandatory.
He said it is necessary for attorneys to attend for various reasons. His main reason was for Bahamian attorneys to be able to work and compete on an international level.
“This training seminar is significant for a number of reasons,” said Mr. Sears.
“It is important that there be continuing education for the members of the bar so that we can maintain the competitive position of The Bahamas as a leading offshore financial sector as well as a major location for foreign direct investment. As you know, it is the aspiration of this jurisdiction to become a center for arbitration, so to maintain this important position and also realize these national goals. It is important that members of the bar be fluent with the best practices in the provision of legal services from a global perspective.”
Topics to be discussed during the workshops sessions include taxation, maritime, gender and information communication and technologies.
Mr. Johnson has confirmed that national influential speakers such as Chief Justice Sir Hartman Longley and Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson will participate in the workshop.
This year’s workshop is scheduled for June 25 – 27 and will end with a bar dining at the British Colonial Hilton.
