"Do not rush to conclusions" says former Bar Association President on US investigations on lawyers and lottery scamming

More expressions of concern have come from the legal community, about the reported intention of  the US Government to prosecute local attorneys for lottery scamming activities.

The jitters started on Wednesday following the extradition of  eight persons linked to the so called Laverick Willocks network.   

Joshua Polacheck, Public Affairs Officer for the US Embassy in Kingston, revealed on RJR's Hotline on Thursday that US authorities have been investigating lawyers who may have been involved in channelling proceeds of  the lottery scam.              

Donovan Walker, former President of  the Jamaican Bar Association, expressed regret at the revelation.

Walker, speaking Friday on RJR's Beyond the Headlines, declared that once criminal activity is in the profession it should be dealt with; however, he is urging that there not be a rush to conclusions until more information is available

"If there is a desire to extradite them and proper procedures are followed , then so be it.  Of course in any profession you will have one or tow out of thousands of lawyers who give the profession a bad name. We need to remember  that no one has actually been charged, so we have to remember that, so we shouldn’t sensationalist it. I don’t want to start any mass hysteria …we just don’t know,” he said. 

He has also sought to distinguish the roles being played by attorneys in the lottery scam and outlined the difference between attorneys representing persons charged with lottery scam activities as opposed to those involved in lottery scamming.

“The canons of the legal profession make it clear that attorneys should not be deterred from accepting employment owing to the fear of public dislike… We have a duty to clients to serve them, and if a link is being made between an attorney who is involved in procedures of crime act as he said  that person needs to face justice.

But I hope he is not confusing someone who is defending or offering legal representation, which every person in this country has a right to. If there is a defense attorney out there defending an alleged lotto scammer, he is not facilitating it. He’s only doing his job,” Walker said.