Richard Layne admitted to bar

Twenty-two-year-old Richard Layne was on Thursday admitted to the bar after his   petition was heard by two judges.

Layne, who has been blazing the academic trail for number of years and was one of the three Guyanese students to make the Hugh Wooding Law School honours roll at the recent graduation, was admitted to the bar by Justice Roxane George but also sitting in on the hearing was Justice Dawn Gregory.

His petition was presented by retired judge James Patterson, who is his grandfather, and Senior Counsel Donald Trotman.

New attorney Richard Layne (second from left) poses with Senior Counsel Donald Trotman (extreme left), Justice Roxane George (centre), retired Judge James Patterson and Justice Dawn Gregory

Patterson in noting his grandson’s academic achievements said he knew of several cases of high academic achievers “who were worsted and foundered in the sometimes unyielding battles at the bar.” He said one of the chief hindrances that usually accompany success at the bar is pride and he has had many a “disquisition” with his grandson on the issue and he has told him that the legal profession “is one of the top three professions that spawn this aberration”.

In his comments, Trotman noted that it was a day in October 50 years ago that he himself was admitted to the bar. He said Layne came from good legal stock as not only is his grandfather a retired judge, but his grandfather’s cousin, Winston Patterson, is a sitting judge. He also mentioned that the retired Patterson–whom he described as a friend and brother–had admitted him to practice law in Grenada. He said Layne should follow in the footsteps of the likes of Oscar Layne and Kenneth George–father of Justice George–and also in those of Justice George herself who has become an advocate for human rights and freedom as enshrined in the country’s constitution.

In accepting the petition Justice George told the young attorney that he comes from good legal background and given his academic achievements, the torch which has now been passed to him will continue to shrine brightly. But she cautioned him–as she has done before to other young lawyers–that the key to success in the profession is preparation and research. She said he should earn the respect of the courts, his clients and his colleagues and “be a lawyer’s lawyer.”

Layne, who is a Queen’s College old boy, and who graduated from the University of Guyana law programme with a distinction, receiving the Ram & Mc Rae prize for being the second best graduating law student, said a new crop of young lawyers will change the face of the profession which has come in for criticisms in recent times. He said these lawyers will challenge the status quo and they would operate within the confines of moral and ethical principles as opposed to strictly political and financial considerations.

Layne is the son of Penelope Layne–head of the Guyana Cancer Registry–and Anthony Layne.