Deputy Opposition Leader Trevor Moniz is urging barristers to have their say tomorrow on a controversial law — already approved in the House of Assembly on Friday — to let bankrupt lawyers practise in Bermuda.

A special general meeting of the Bermuda Bar Association will take place on the issue at Cathedral Hall at 12.30 p.m. after what is thought to be an unprecedented request for the session from 13 lawyers.

Mr. Moniz wanted the meeting to take place before the Bermuda Bar Amendment Act 2008 was debated in the House of Assembly — but instead lawyers will now consider and vote upon legislation already passed by MPs.

Despite that, Mr. Moniz said it was important for people to speak out on the issue. "I think it's important that the meeting be held," said the Opposition MP. "I believe in democracy; I believe in people exercising their rights.

"There is no point in laying down and going to sleep because people say 'we are not going to listen to you'. Each person's job is to stand up for what they believe to be right.

"Whether the powers that be decide to listen, that's something I can't control. The indication so far has been that they won't listen."

Attorney General Kim Wilson wrote to the Bermuda Bar Association last month about her proposal to change the law to allow bankrupt lawyers to practise here for the first time since 1984, explaining that she wanted to table it in the legislature this session.

The association's elected Bar Council gave its approval in principle to the proposal before seeing the draft legislation and then canvassed members' views, giving them less than a week to reply to an e-mail poll.

Ninety lawyers responded, representing less than a quarter of the association's 385-strong membership, with 70 of those supporting the change.

Thirteen lawyers — Mr. Moniz, UBP Senator Michael Fahy, Kevin George, Saul Froomkin, Alan Dunch, Juliana Snelling, Ernest Morrison, Edward King, Tim Marshall, Ronald Myers, John Riihiluoma, Janice Gutteridge and Jonathan Betts — felt more consultation was needed and requested the special meeting.

On Friday evening, an Opposition motion in the House of Assembly to defer debate on the Act until the next parliamentary session was narrowly defeated. Thirteen UBP MPs voted for the motion and 12 PLP members plus Independent Wayne Furbert voted against.

Deputy Speaker Dame Jennifer Smith cast the deciding vote against and the motion was quashed. The legislation is now expected to go before the Senate on Friday and, if approved there, will become law.

Mr. Moniz said he thought it could be the closest his party had come to winning a motion in ten years and suggested it was noteworthy that eight PLP MPs did not vote on the motion.

Premier Ewart Brown, who was off Island, was one of those. The others were Ashfield DeVent, Terry Lister, Patrice Minors, Dennis Lister, Wayne Perinchief, Walter Lister and Alex Scott. This newspaper understands that PLP members were not under the whip to vote, unlike their Opposition counterparts.

"There was at least six of them who did not support the legislation," Mr. Moniz claimed. "This really shows a fracture within the PLP."

Referring to twice bankrupt lawyer and former PLP MP Julian Hall, who it has been claimed the legislation is to benefit, Mr. Moniz said: "This is seen to be legislation that's done for an individual, not for the common good."

Ms Wilson and Bar Association president Rod Attride-Stirling did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

What the lawyers have said so far

Members of Bermuda Bar Association voted last month on whether or not bankrupt lawyers should be allowed to practise on the Island.

Ninety lawyers responded to a poll on the topic by the association, which has 385 members. Seventy of the respondents — or about 18 percent of the total membership — supported in principle the amendment, which was passed in the House of Assembly on Friday.

The Bar Council, the association's elected governing body, gave its support to the change in the law, also in principle, before canvassing members.

More than 20 of the lawyers who took part in the poll sent additional comments to the Bar Association. Here are some of their remarks:

¦ "I am completely opposed to the bill in this form, which is wholly unacceptable interference by government with the standards of legal practice in Bermuda."

¦ "I do not see why the restrictions are only with regard to real estate law, when there are other areas of law that deal with fiduciary duties. I think the scope is too narrow."

¦ "I for one would like to know how something like this can be unanimously approved without an SGM (special general meeting) or proper previous consultation. In addition, simply voting by e-mail without seeing the legislation and without debate cannot be right."

¦ "On the whole the draft bill achieves what most people would consider reasonable, in the circumstances, and protects the interests of the public, which is even more important."

¦ "The amendment...should not have retrospective effect. It should apply only to barristers who find themselves bankrupts after the amendments come into force."

n "I am in favour of allowing bankrupt lawyers to practise, provided they are subject to suitable restrictions and supervised by the Bar Association."

n "I would like to see a wide discretion vested in the Bar to limit the work that the bankrupt attorney is conducting, which I don't think should necessarily be limited to a prohibition against real estate work."

¦ "Conditions need to have some teeth and the protection of clients must be paramount."

¦ "An attorney should continue to be barred if there are acts of dishonesty and/or gross negligence and/or some other sufficiently undesirable act which also breaches the attorney ethics code (especially if this act led to the attorney being declared bankrupt)."

¦ "It would have been more appropriate for the Bar Council not to have expressed an opinion on the proposal until it had consulted the membership. What would the Bar Council do if the proposal is rejected by the membership? Resign en bloc?"

¦ "Bankruptcy entails a personal failure to live within the bankrupt's means and this fact alone should disqualify that person from managing the legal affairs of a client."

¦ "To make it mandatory to grant the practising certificate, as the draft bill provides, makes a mockery of the process."

¦ "I think we owe it to the public to make good character a requirement for the reinstatement of a...certificate that has been suspended or revoked for whatever reason."