By:Yassah J. Wright
IPNEWS: Speaking during of the Civil Law courts opening, the sixth Judicial Court “B” Judge Scheaplor Dunbar, said he will not ask for or demand any Money from lawyers in other to assign cases, “Do not lie on the Judge”.
Judge Dunbar noted that lawyers should not go to clients that asking for money to see the judge for an assignment or to assign the case.
He stated that Lawyers should avoid tardiness in the performance of their duties.
Judge Dunbar said he noticed that some lawyers are in the constant habit of filing notices of withdrawal from cases as soon as they received notices of assignment for trial, adding that the notices of withdrawal from a clients employment does not take effect automatically and withdrawals must in all cases be by leave of court.
The Judge stated that when a case is assigned for hearing, do not stay away simply because you have filed a notice of withdrawal with the clerk.
“The Court has the right to accept or reject your notice of withdrawal and proceed with the hearing if it determines that it was filed for the sole purpose of delaying the hearing and final determination of the case” Judge noted.
Judge Dunbar pointed out that any lawyer who engages in such conduct during this term will be fine heavily so as to discourage the constant delays in the hearing of cases due to last minute withdrawal from cases.
He said most lawyers withdraw from their clients cases because according to them, they can not find their client or they do not have a contact number for the client, “this is a very poor excuse”.
Judge Dunbar of Civil Law Court ” B” the very first thing a lawyer ought to do when he is establishing the lawyer-client- relationship is to get the full address and contact details of his/her client.
“The address and contact numbers should always be written in the case file just in case you misplace your phone therefore you just can not withdraw from a case simply because your client is no longer calling you or simply because you have lost your clients contact number” Judge Dunbar stressed.
Judge Dunbar noted that if your case is assigned for the hearing of a pretrial motion for disposition of law issues, your client need not be present in order for you to attend to that hearing.
Judge Dunbar said it is only during trials that the presence of the client becomes very important, “We will therefore continue to ensure that lawyers do not withdraw from cases without the knowledge and consent of their clients”.
The Civil Law Court ” A” Judge use the medium to warn all lawyers who are in the habit of deliberately lying to their clients about the issuance of assignments stop.(courtesy of 24 News)
