Lawyers occupy positions of trust. They are supposed to be our representatives and advocates. They at times handle our money. They at times know our deepest secrets. They at times have the authorization to act on our behalf in the most serious of matters.

When lawyers are dishonest they can take nearly everything from honest and hardworking people who then have great difficulty getting back what was once theirs.

The Bahamas Bar Association is the oversight body for lawyers. When parties who feel aggrieved make complaints to the association, trials of lawyers occur before the designated panels of the association and punishments can be leveled against those found to have violated the laws governing the profession. Lawyers can be ordered disbarred. And, of course, if complaints are made to police, criminal charges could also be made.

The rulings by the bar's disciplinary tribunals set out the matters at hand and what sanctions, if any, are made against lawyers who are brought to trial. These rulings are usually quite straightforward and laypeople can deduce the substance of the matters.

The press, from time to time, hears that a lawyer has been disbarred or suspended. Diligent journalists then work to obtain copies of the tribunals' rulings from the association, or anyone who may have it. The story then appears in the press. It is not always easy, however, to obtain a copy of rulings to determine what exactly happened in matters concerning lawyers.

The Bahamas Bar Association needs to institute a better system of informing the public of the punishments it orders against lawyers - especially when disbarment is ordered. The public has a right to know who has been judged to have committed such significant breaches of trust that they deserve to be disbarred.

A notice could be published in the newspapers with the picture and name of the person in question and the reason why he or she was disbarred. The association could also create a noticeable section on its website to list the lawyers who have been disbarred. If the lawyer is appealing the disbarment order, then a note could be attached stating that an appeal is pending.

Better publicity of disbarments would help Bahamians to not seek counsel from people judged not trustworthy by competent and legally authorized bodies of their peers. If a lawyer has been found to have stolen a client's funds, shouldn't a pensioner or a teacher know that she should stay away from this person who may still be trying to pretend to be a lawyer in good standing?

The Bahamas Bar Association must help protect us from those who are not worthy of our trust. We should not have to guess who we should see for representation and who we should run away from.

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