[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he first thing we do, kill all the lawyers. So Shakespeare’s Dick the Butcher suggested as one of the ways a band of pretenders to the throne of Henry VI could improve England. Dick is clearly not the kind of guy to be messed with. The permanent disposal of all lawyers is his final solution to a perceived problem. Ironically, most lawyers today consider the several interpretations of Dick’s killer prescription something of a joke, to be shared and argued over, especially when they are fully loaded. On the other hand, two particular lawyers have good reason not to consider the oft-quoted line the least bit hilarious!
It is by now no secret that a prominent member of the local bar, widely considered this country’s premier criminal defense attorney, and related to the operators of one of the nation’s most respected law firms, was viciously attacked over the weekend. Reports are he was so badly roughed up that he had to be hospitalized with severe head wounds and a broken leg.
As for the motivations for the attack that occurred at the lawyer’s private residence, it depends on whom you ask. The most persistent suggests his attacker is (was?) an old friend and client—and also the victim of an alleged attempt on his life. By the perhaps medicated lawyer’s own somewhat garbled explanation on TV, his client had somehow formed the impression he was being played, as they say; that his legal representative was less interested in his best interests than in making life easy for his alleged attacker.
It is not the first time the lawyer had made headlines of the dicey kind. Several years ago, immediately following his successful defense of a widely despised accused rapist-killer (alas, now famously deceased!) thousands of people took to the streets of Castries in protest, the majority angry females bearing placards. At time of writing it is unclear whether the lawyer in the latest fracas has laid charges against his friend-client, or has removed himself from the precedential case. According to hospital sources, he has discharged himself and returned home.
The second lawyer, again associated with a high-profile city firm, was recently charged with a number of sexual offences against a female colleague. According to a reliable source the alleged victim reported the incident to the owner of their law firm and was not only rudely admonished but also given the boot with less than satisfactory severance pay. So far, there have been no related media reports.
Neither a word from the lately quite vocal women’s organizations!
