Commercial Bank -- said yesterday: "This sounds the death knell for me.'' Mr. Vaucrosson believes the writ could open the floodgates to a string of other suits against him. It would destroy his business, and possibly force him to sell his home, he fears.

The writ was entered in the Supreme Court register last Thursday.

Yesterday Mr. Vaucrosson told The Royal Gazette the writ was over a loan he had guaranteed to help prop up a man's accountancy business, which eventually folded.

The man, however, had defaulted on repaying the loan, Mr. Vaucrosson claimed.

"I am liable for it. The bank doesn't chase him, it chases me.'' Mr. Vaucrosson claimed he had signed a note, guaranteeing the loan, after the man had been referred to him.

"His wife was out of work and he needed help. I needn't have done it. I was just trying to help,'' he added.

Mr. Vaucrosson said he had guaranteed several loans in the past, losing thousands of dollars when people defaulted on repayment "We are talking about a lot of money -- well into six figures,'' he said.

"I won't be doing it again, not even if it was my own sister or brother who needed help. I've been kicked in the pants too much.'' Mr. Vaucrosson said he guaranteed loans as a gesture to people struggling in the recession.

"I don't get anything out of it. I just like the feeling of helping my fellow man.'' Mr. Vaucrosson said he had received a loan guarantee when he was starting out as a lawyer in Bermuda in 1964: "I came from England with just $400 in my pocket, and needed help to get started.'' He added: "What worries me now is that this writ will have a snowball effect.

Other people will start taking out writs.

"You could say it is the nail in the coffin for me. There is nothing I can do about it.

"I could cash in my life insurance policy. I may even have to sell my home, probably for about a third of its actual value.'' Mr. Vaucrosson, a father-of-four, said financial pressures on his law firm over the years had seen his staff slashed from 35 to 12.

"We are really struggling and fighting to survive,'' he said.