A law to allow bankrupt lawyers to continue to practise was passed in the House of Assembly last night, before members of the legal profession had chance to confer.

The Bermuda Bar Amendment Act 2008 would allow attorneys such as Julian Hall — who has twice been made bankrupt, to work. Bankrupt lawyers have been banned from practising since 1984.

The Act repeals provisions of the Bermuda Bar Act 1974 which prevent an undischarged bankrupt from practising. It will allow bankrupt lawyers to continue to practise, but with conditions.

Members of the Bermuda Bar Association however, say they were only given a week's consultation period on the change in the law. They were to hold a Special Meeting next Wednesday to vote upon the amendment.

Last night the Opposition proposed a motion to defer the Bill until the next Parliamentary session, to allow the Bar Association more consultation time.

The vote in the House was split 13-13, with former UBP MP and now Independent, Wayne Furbert, throwing his weight behind the Government's rejection of the Motion.

Dame Jennifer Smith, as Chair, gave the deciding vote — also against the postponement, and the Motion was defeated.

During yesterday's debate on the Bill, Deputy Opposition Leader Trevor Moniz accused Government of "pseudo consultation" with the legal profession.

Under the amendment, in the event of bankruptcy a lawyer must inform the Bermuda Bar Council and will have to apply for a new practising certificate, with conditions.

These include being restricted from practising real estate law and operating trust accounts. The lawyer would also be restricted from receiving advance fees such as retainers.

After being discharged from bankruptcy, the lawyer can apply once more for a full practising certificate.

Government says the aim of the amendment is to make the law more lenient, to assist undischarged bankrupts in repaying their creditors.

Outlining the Bill to the House yesterday, Junior Minister of Justice, Michael Scott, said: "Several of the (Commonwealth) jurisdictions reviewed have adopted an approach which supports bankrupt lawyers to apply the tools of their trade.

"It is proposed to adopt a fair and less punitive approach in Bermuda, so an undisclosed bankrupt can continue to practise."

Mr. Scott said Attorney General Kim Wilson had consulted the legal profession over the amendment.

"The Bar Council having considered the proposals, unanimously supported this initiative in principle," he said.

"And 90 members of the Bar which responded to an e-mail survey on this subject, 80 percent of them supported this amendment."

His statement however, drew protestations from Mr. Moniz, who claimed only 19 members of the Bar Association responded to the poll and Mr. Scott's information was "misleading".

Mr. Scott said: "I read my brief as was reported widely in the Press. My information is 90 members of the Bar Association responded and approximately 80 percent of those supported this."

Mr. Moniz said the figure had been "misreported". He said of the 381 members of the Bar Association, only 90 had responded to the poll.

"Of those responses, two were in the negative, who did not support the principle of an undisclosed bankrupt barrister practising law at all," he said.

"Seventy persons supported it 'in principle' and about 70 percent of those who responded — about 18 percent of the Bar as a whole, and my understanding is some of those did place conditions on there."

Mr. Moniz said the Attorney General wrote to the Bar Council on November 20, but Government requested a response by November 28.

"That was the first we knew anything of this amendment," he said.

"We're basically talking about a seven-day window."

Mr. Moniz said the legal profession were being asked to endorse the legislation in a very short period of time, compared to the typical consultation period of several months. He said a draft of the legislation was not even included in the letter.

"The piece of legislation wasn't tabled I believe until two weeks ago, so there is a great deal of concern," he said.

"We have a consultation that in my view is restricted, and when it is restricted there is always the suspicion it is not real consultation, but pseudo consultation. One certainly hopes that is not the case.

"One of the things that disturbed me in this case was when the President of the Bar wrote to members, he said 'Look, the Attorney General and the Government can make changes to the law whether we like it or not'.

"The clear indication was they were going to do what they wanted to do whether we liked it or not. I thought that was a very sad comment on the President's view. In other words, it was pseudo consultation.

"The consultation is restricted and without the piece of legislation, the draft legislation, to show that the details are for the information of members of the public."

Mr. Moniz said: "The overriding concern of this matter is the protection of the public, but what we don't understand as members of the Bar, is the unseemly rush.

"What has happened here, we believe, is there has been a rush by the Government and the President seems to be distancing himself from the Government here."

Mr. Moniz said he had written to Bar Association President, Rod Attride-Stirling, to ask him to request a delay on the Bill by Government.

Shadow Minister of Works and Engineering, Pat Gordon-Pamplin, also questioned the level of consultation.

She said: "There is a level of almost disrespect of a profession that's being impacted by this legislation.

"We are not saying the legislation should not come but it's better left until the proper consultation has been had.

"If this is good and positive legislation it will pass the acid test."

Mr. Furbert said he welcomed the legislation but was concerned about the limitations on bankrupt lawyers.

"What we should be debating today is what the limitations are put on by the Government," he said. "Are they appropriate?"

Shadow Minister of Legislative and Public Administration, John Barritt, said: "There are three things where I have a concern. What's the frequency of the bankruptcy?

"What oversight will there be for this? What makes real estate such an attractive elective that an undischarged bankrupt lawyer cannot do it at all?

"And the third is where he applies, the Bar will issue it (a practising certificate). Where is the discretion for the Bar? I am not here to vote against the principle. But in my view this is not the best way to do it."

Shadow Justice Minister Mark Pettingill added: "We cannot go cherry-picking this legislation from other jurisdictions without looking at how it fits in Bermuda.

"This is not streamlined for us. The world is watching and we need to set an example."

But PLP MP Walter Roban said: "The changes in 1984 were an injustice and for 24 years this has existed.

"We are trying to swiftly bring justice here for a situation that quite frankly should not have existed for as long as it has."

Works and Engineering Minister, Derrick Burgess, said: "They talk about rush, it has been 24 years to date."

Finance Minister and Deputy Premier, Paula Cox, said: "I think it's somewhat patronising and condescending to tell a lawyer they cannot practise as a litigator.

"If they have the ability as a litigator you don't tell them they can't."

Mr. Scott said the reason why real estate law was excluded was because it was difficult for such lawyers to get insurance.