Litigations cost millions and the government’s choice attorneys collect

Wilfred Elrington

Litigation, litigation everywhere, and no doubt the attorneys involved in what seems like endless litigation are smiling all the way to the bank. In the case of any litigation against G.O.B., if you’re not their attorney of choice there’s nothing to smile about since the millions paid out to G.O.B.’s attorneys come out of the public coffers, filled by taxpayer money. Attorney General Wilfred Elrington, himself an attorney, summed it up succinctly when News Five spoke to him this week.

Wilfred Elrington, Attorney General

“Whenever anybody files a lawsuit against the government, any judgment that is given against the government in that lawsuit will have to be paid out of the taxpayers’ money. So if you have to pay damages in lawsuits, it is the government and the people of Belize that will have to pay and that will translate to less money for police men, less money for nurses, less money for teachers, less money for social services; less money for hospitals. So lawsuits are not anything that people are excited about. It does to my mind more harm than good to the society. And in these days I can tell you, that the attorneys are making a game of it. They prolong every lawsuit so that it takes years before a judgment to be given because every time you get a decision, you appeal it—which is good; don’t get me wrong. But it takes time, it keeps the courts cluttered with cases and at the end of the year the only people who suffer are the citizens of this country. So I think it is important that whoever bring these actions, these actions are ultimately going to cost the citizens of this country who don’t have enough resources to take care of the essential needs of the country.”

Government’s law firms of choice in large litigation matters are usually Barrow and Williams, Young’s Law Firm and Barrow and Company.