President of Caribbean Juris Chambers, Mr. John Benjamin, may have been an Anglican Priest today alongside his first cousin, Bishop Errol Brooks, but fate decided otherwise. Instead, he is one of the leading lawyers in the Caribbean with 25 years of practice, 23 of which he has spent in Anguilla.

Attorney General Ronald Scipio congratulates Mr. Benjamin

His 25th Anniversary was celebrated on Friday September 22 with a reception at his Chambers known as Hannah-Waver House at the Caribbean Commercial Complex in The Valley, Anguilla. The occasion attracted a large number of persons from the private and public sectors who congratulated him and enjoyed the array of delicacies and refreshments served to them.

One of the guests was former Prime Minister of St. Kitts-Nevis and now a Medical Officer in Anguilla, Dr. Kennedy Simmonds. He recalled that Mr. Benjamin served as Crown Counsel in the Attorney General Chambers headed by Tapley Seaton QC up to when the two islands achieved independence on September 19, 1983. “Our 23rd independence anniversary is his 23rd anniversary of practice in Anguilla, but his 25th as a lawyer in the Caribbean,” he commented at the reception.

Lawyer Courtney Abel (right) and others

“Mr. Benjamin has certainly become one of the outstanding lawyers in Anguilla but more than that he is also well known for his activities outside the legal field – with tourism and carnival,” Dr. Simmonds went on. “He is also known for his enthusiasm in working with young people and assisting people generally. I think he is a tremendous contributor to the people of Anguilla.”

Mr. Benjamin has close family ties in Anguilla. His mother was Clemence Brooks, daughter of Hannah-Waver (his grandmother), after whom his Chambers has been named. His mother was Bishop Brooks’ aunt and the Bishop’s father, Alvin Brooks, was is uncle. It was these family ties that helped to lead him to Anguilla on September 25, 1983, when his uncle invited him to Anguilla to serve as the lawyer for a number of cases. At one time he and Don Mitchell were about the only two resident lawyers in Anguilla.

Lawyers and others at Mr. Benjamin’s reception

He recalled with gratitude those formative years when one of his friends and supporters, Albert Lake, not only provided a residence for him in the Quarter, but allowed him to convert part of the building into his Chambers. He gratefully acknowledged the assistance of Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming, who then who sold him a dwelling house at a reduced rate and of Ronald Webster who kindly made available an office at the Caribbean Commercial Complex for him.

Mr. Benjamin was later able to build his own Law Chambers in the area and has since purchased one of the blocks of offices built there by the late Dr. William Herbert who was a lawyer in Anguilla. In speaking about his success in property ownership and financing, he has expressed thanks to Caribbean Commercial Bank and such persons as Preston Bryan and Leslie Richardson as well as Scotiabank and Wally Clarke, a former Manager. He is grateful to Dr. Herbert who invited him to replace him when he (Herbert) became Ambassador Plenipotentiary for St. Kitts-Nevis, thus helping him to establish his practice on the island to a greater extent.

L-R: Pat Hodge and Lawyer Tara Carter

Mr. Benjamin said he was indebted to a number of other persons who were of much assistance to him during his legal career. They include Dame Bernice Lake, QC, who was then based in Antigua, but visited Anguilla periodically; Charles Wilkin and the late Fred Kelsick with whom he shared legal work in St. Kitts and Anguilla with only a handshake; then Director of Prosecutions, Albert Redhead, Sir Dennis Bryan, CJ, Dr. Henry Browne, Tapley Seaton, and the late lawyers Sir Maurice Davis, Lee Moore and Fitzroy Bryant with whom he also had a cooperative working relationship. He even expressed thanks to Steven Bryan (Sleepy) who shipped his law books from St. Kitts to Anguilla.

In addition to his legal education, Mr. Benjamin has had some training in theology at St. Luke’s pre-theological school in England where he afterwards became interested in community work. He later attended Burnell College where he underwent a Youth Leadership Training Programme. Following that he was awarded a scholarship by the Methodist Church tenable at Birmingham University where he did social studies. Following this he worked with the Education Department looking after at risk youngsters mainly of Jamaican families in Birmingham and in London.

Dr. Simmonds

He spent so much time in court that he was encouraged to study law and was given an Education Department scholarship to pursue studies at Warwick University. During his study period, because of his prowess at law school, he was given an opportunity to lecture his fellow students and run seminars as part of the structured class work. By that time he had also set up a law centre at Hansworth giving useful advice to the community with the assistance of highly placed legal practitioners. Lemming Spa in Warwickshire also benefited from the law centre.

While at Warwick University, Mr. Benjamin won a scholarship to work with the Vera Institute of Justice at the Manhattan Court in New York on pre-trial procedural matters relating to racial discrimination involving the police and ethnic groups. This provided him with a good deal of experience and helped in the development of his career.

By the time he returned to the Caribbean and took up employment as a Crown Counsel in the Attorney General’s Chambers in St. Kitts, he was a well-rounded lawyer with a great capacity for hard work and with much promise for the future. His legal career flourished over the years, mushrooming into the establishment of Caribbean Juris Chambers in Anguilla, one of the leading law firms in the region.

He is proud of his dedicated staff, some ranging between 16 and 22 years of service and a team of well-qualified lawyers including Dennis Sheehan who came to Anguilla as a visitor but fell in love with the island and stayed on having forged an excellent working relationship with his Chambers; Tara Carter, a brilliant young lady who first came to his Chambers as a job experience student at 16, then became interested in legal studies and recently took up employment there after qualifying as a lawyer; and a Barbadian lawyer who is expected to arrive in Anguilla shortly.

Mr. Benjamin has offered his thanks and appreciation to the Anguillian community and to all persons outside the island for the support he has received over the years.

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