Gibraltar should guard against becoming ‘small franchise’ for London law firms, Chief Justice says 

Chief Justice Anthony Dudley said Gibraltar’s legal community must guard against becoming “a small franchise” for London-based firms of solicitors and senior counsel at the expense of the Rock’s own practitioners. 

Speaking during a ceremony in the Supreme Court last Friday to appoint two new Gibraltarian King’s Counsel, Mr Justice Dudley said that as of December 25 last year, there were 69 lawyers from outside Gibraltar registered to provide legal services on the Rock, an “ever-increasing presence”. 

“There will always be specialist cases in which it is desirable to instruct English counsel, but we ought not, by inadvertence or inertia, become a small franchise for the London-based firms of solicitors and senior counsel at the expense of our own practitioners,” he said.  

“Not least, and I say this with confidence, because our senior litigation lawyers compare very favourably with them and because our profession generally retains a collegiate culture which stands in constructive contrast to the unnecessarily adversarial approach occasionally seen in litigation which in effect is not run locally.” 

Mr Justice Dudley was addressing a courtroom filled with senior representatives of the legal fraternity and guests including the Governor, Lieutenant General Sir Ben Bathurst, as well as relatives and friends of the two new KCs, Julian Santos and Nick Cruz. 

Praising their achievement, the Chief Justice noted that it was “becoming hard” for young lawyers to appear in court on substantive matters, making it difficult for them to gain the experience and skills needed to aspire to becoming KCs. 

“There are no easy answers,” he said.   

“But at the very least local firms should, as far as they are able, discourage unnecessary reliance on overseas counsel.” 

“We should also do all that we can to promote and support ongoing training for those who wish to develop their advocacy skills.”   

“And indeed, some practitioners may, difficult as it is in an era of specialisation, broaden their practice beyond civil and commercial litigation and embrace family and criminal work and thereby refine and strengthen their skills.” 

The court heard too from both Mr Cruz and Mr Santos, who reflected on the demands of the legal professions and thanked all who had supported them in their careers, above all their families but mentors in the profession, but also the judiciary and the court staff. 

Mr Cruz highlighted the important role of lawyers as “brave and independent” defenders of the rule of law in a world in flux where “boundaries appear to be blurred almost to be invisible”. 

He reflected too on the need to ensure that justice could be accessed by all and not just wealthy individuals or businesses, noting the increase in recent years in the number of people representing themselves in court. 

“I don’t know what the solution is, this is just an observation,” he said. 

Mr Santos, the youngest KC appointed in Gibraltar after just 17 years of practice, has been involved in high-profile cases including representing Prince William in the phone-hacking case in the UK and as counsel to the McGrail Inquiry. 

He urged younger practitioners to be willing to “step up” to the challenges of serious cases and called on local law firms to ensure those opportunities were available to them. 

The court also heard from AB Serfaty, KC, a lawyer for 56 years, 32 of them in silk, who introduced both new KCs and, in doing so, underlined that the honour was both individual and part of a professional tradition to be valued. 

There are currently 24 KCs in Gibraltar, 18 of them in practice.