Bankrupt lawyer Julian Hall has failed to repay a cent of the $3.3 million he owes his creditors, Supreme Court heard yesterday.

Mr. Hall was heavily criticised by lawyers for the parties he owes, for failing to disclose his earnings since being declared bankrupt more than eight years ago. The allegations came as Chief Justice Richard Ground considered an application from the Official Receiver which could result in him discharging the bankruptcy.

The Official Receiver and the creditors oppose the application.

Mr. Justice Ground heard from the opponents that Mr. Hall has engaged in consultancy work for Government and private clients since being declared bankrupt, and is currently on a $119,000 per year contract with the Department of Works and Engineering. Criticising Mr. Hall for making "no attempt" to settle his debts, Saul Froomkin QC, acting for one of two major creditors, claimed: "Mr. Hall has cocked a snook at this court and the creditors."

However, Mr. Hall rebutted the criticisms that he has let down those he owes, complaining that his attempts to rectify matters have been thwarted by bureaucratic stone-walling and the fact that his bankruptcy bars him from practicing as a barrister in Bermuda. "The treatment afforded to me by the entire maladministration process has been shameful and utterly illegal" he said.

He also told the court his bankruptcy meant "I've faced the indignity of scorn within my own profession and indeed sometimes the embarrassment of my own family."

Mr. Hall is asking the Chief Justice to grant him an absolute discharge from bankruptcy, but this was opposed by Lesley Basden, consultant to the Official Receiver, Tim Marshall, lawyer for the executors of the estate of the late Charles Vaucrosson and Mr. Froomkin, for the receivers of the estate of Betty McMahon.

The bankruptcy order was made in January 2000 on the application of the receivers under the Mental Health Act of the estate of Mrs. McMahon of Paget, a wealthy elderly widow.

The other main creditor is the estate of Mr. Vaucrosson, Mr. Hall's former employer.

Mr. Froomkin and Mr. Marshall want Mr. Hall to pay half of all his earnings toward his debts.

Ms Basden told the court that Mr. Hall has so far "failed to make any payments whatsoever" towards his total debts, which were $2.6 million at the time of the bankruptcy order and now $3.3 million with interest.

She said Mr. Hall has worked as a consultant since 2002 to various entities and has addresses in the USA, UK, and Canada.

She claimed that bankrupts have a statutory obligation to disclose their financial positions and property, and Mr. Hall could be guilty of a criminal offence for failing to provide a proper statement of these.

Mr. Marshall and Mr. Froomkin echoed her calls for Mr. Hall to make a full disclosure of his financial position before the court makes any ruling on an absolute or conditional discharge of his bankruptcy.

So far, said Mr. Marshall, Mr. Hall has only provided "piecemeal disclosure" of his work for clients including Triangle Amusements, Hunt Foods, and the legal practice of Kevin Bean.

"We are dealing with a debtor, we respectfully submit, whose intention is not to fully co-operate with the Official Receiver and his creditors and, we respectfully submit that a reasonable inference can be drawn from this history that for whatever reason, he chooses to conceal the statement of affairs of what is going on with his properties and his businesses," he told the Chief Justice.

Mr. Froomkin accused Mr. Hall of turning down a salary that could have helped pay his debts.

He claimed that former Bermuda Industrial Union President and current Minister of Works and Engineering Derrick Burgess made "quite a scandalous statement" in an affidavit that Mr. Hall declined payment for work he's done for the union "because of the potential bankruptcy complications."

He said the court needed to hear the full details of Mr. Hall's financial dealings with the BIU, going on to say that according to Mr. Hall's own affidavit, he's been hired by the Government Department of Works and Engineering on a $119,000 per year contract.

"Let's see the terms" he urged. "Are there any other perks — maybe housing? None of us know."

He called for Mr. Hall to account for how he affords three residences overseas and to pay for the schooling of his three daughters.

He also asked for disclosure of what Mr. Hall earns as a "very very influential and helpful consultant" including acting in "major arbitration with the Government".

This was an an apparent reference to his role as consultant to ProActive, the company that claims Government wrongly terminated its contract to build the new Berkeley Institute.

Mr. Hall began his submissions by saying he has "very very deep feelings" about what has happened over the last eight years, which he described as "a scandalously arduous ordeal" that has damaged his name.

He complained that the bankruptcy order prevents him earning the type of money needed to repay his debts. He pointed out that he is a good singer, but cannot make the same money doing that or driving a cab as he could as a practicing barrister.

"I'm a lawyer. I'm an advocate and I think I'm a jolly good one still, and if that's a lack of contrition I apologise," he said, telling the court that bankruptcy should not be a source of shame although he regrets the circumstances.

He went on to claim that since the bankruptcy order, he's offered to pay a lump sum of up to $300,000 combined with future quarterly payments, provided with the support of third parties.

However, he claimed that Alan Dunch, the lawyer at that time acting for Mrs. McMahon's receivers, "inexplicably" declined to accept this without knowing who his backers were.

"I took the position that's none of their business. I still take the position that it's none of their business who my backers are," said Mr. Hall.

However, the Chief Justice interjected that Mr. Dunch presumably wanted to know that the money was not borrowed on credit or from "concealed assets".

Hitting back over claims that he has failed to fully detail his finances, Mr. Hall asked: "How do you keep books of account when you don't have a business?".

He claimed that "apart from the Berkeley matter and occasionally helping people with a few other matters, I've not been that busy."

He described the question of a statement of his financial affairs as a "vexing issue" upon which he has struggled to get advice. He said he has encountered "absolute confusion" despite his willingness to disclose the information. Mr. Hall also told the court he does not have three homes worldwide, but sleeps on a friend's couch in England and likewise in the USA.

In an apparent reference to his contract with the Department of Works and Engineering, he noted: "But that's all changed now. For the first time in eight and a half years I have a job."

Of Mr. Froomkin's concerns over his work for the BIU, he described Derrick Burgess as "a great friend".

He explained that as President of the BIU, Mr. Burgess agreed that rather than Mr. Hall being paid a salary, the union would instead pay for the school and university fees of his three daughters.

The case continues.