Profile of David Ritch on Famous Like Me

David E. Ritch, Esq., OBE, JP, LL.B (Hons.) is a prominent Cayman Islands attorney-at-law and public figure who has been honored for his work inside and out of the governmental structure. At the present point in his public service interests, he serves as the Chairman of the Work Permit Board. In 2003 he resigned the chairmanship of the Cayman Islands Immigration Board to protest what he saw as an excessive number of individuals who were allowed to bypass the normal immigration process and granted immigrant status due to "extraordinary circumstances". In 2003-2004, as chairman of the Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC) he was involved in an extremely public dispute with the Cayman government over an unpopular rate increase. He also represented the Cayman Islands at the European Union Court of First Instance, where he successfully argued that the court could not force the Caymans to comply with the EU Tax Savings Directive.

He received his law degree from the University of the West Indies (LL.B., with Honours) and was admitted to the bar in 1976 from the Inner Temple, Inns of Court, London, England; in England as Barrister-at-Law and Cayman Islands as Attorney-at-Law.

Early life & legal career

He has a long and distinguished career in the Cayman Islands beginning in 1976. He served as Clerk of Courts, Crown Counsel, and Senior Crown Counsel successively, until 1979 when he became an associate at Hunter & Hunter, Attorneys-at-Law. In 1983, he founded his own firm with his step-father W. Warren Conolly, OBE, JP, a former lawyer, East End MLA, and Minister for Tourism. The firm, Ritch & Conolly, was at one point the second-largest Caymanian-owned firm on the island. This distinction, as well as that of being a prosecutor, defense, and corporate attorney, gave him a strong position as the islands continued to grow and a larger bureaucracy was needed. David is recognised as one of the best lawyers on the island by numerous sources and clients of the firm include major property developers on the island as well as high-net worth individuals.

Governmental appointments

David is well known in the Caribbean for his many years on statutory government boards. Some of these include:

• 1987-89: Chairman, Planning Appeals Tribunal
• 1987-97: Member, Cayman Islands Currency Board
• 1988-91: Chairman, Labour Law Appeals Tribunal
• 1989-90: Chairman, Caymanian Protection Board
  • Created as the influx of expatriates grew, it stood to protect native Caymanian interest. During David's chairmanship, the board formulated policies such as a requirement of 50% Caymanian ownership in all businesses, a requirement that businesses re-advertise jobs at the expiration of a work permit, and anti-discrimination legislation as well.
• 1992-03: Chairman, Port Authority of the Cayman Islands
• 2000-02: Chairman, Trade & Business Licensing Board
  • On this committee, he oversaw a re-organisation and expansion of the department in keeping with scrutiny of international financial centres like Cayman, and then headed off a very public license extension dispute between Texaco and Esso in 2001.
• 2002-03: Chairman, Immigration Board
  • Considered the most powerful statutory board in the C.I. government, this Board met many times to consider applications of permanent residency, work permits, and grants of Caymanian status. Actions by the government during this period led to David's resignation in 2003.
• 2005-present: Chairman, Work Permit Board
  • The Work Permit Board was formed following the May 2005 election and subsequent change of government in the Cayman Islands, which resulted in the Immigration Board being split into three. The Board is currently saddled with the task of dealing with thousands of temporary permits issued in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. The majority of these permits were issued to Jamaicans; currently the scapegoat for many of Cayman's current problems such as the rapidly increasing rate of violent crime. This makes the Work Permit Board's job especially important but sensitive.
• National Advisory Council
  • David served on this board, which advises the Governor on important decisions.

The immigration dispute

During his chairmanship of the Cayman Islands Immigration Board, many immigration policies were changing - most widely praised as common-sense decisions not completed by previous boards. Inserted in the law is a provision to allow the Cabinet to grant Cayman status to those it deems appropriate under "extraordinary circumstances," i.e. Governors who wanted to remain on the island. The Cabinet used this provision to grant status to over 3,000 persons, which was considered to be an abuse of the provision. David believed that the Government should have increased the quota for the Immigration Board, allowing them to process those applicants with the regular scrutiny. This sparked an angry response from the Leader of Government Business, who believed that as the Government provides the board with a mandate and a structure, it should do no more than what it is told. David tendered his resignation as Chairman to the Chief Secretary, and a front-page article was published regarding his depature. He left the Immigration Board to become the Chairman of Caribbean Utilities Company, the electricity monopoly on Cayman on the board of which David had served since 1988.

Later years

CUC was involved in a very public dispute with the Government regarding a rate increase that was implemented and largely denounced by the public. David became Chairman at a time of convenience because of his legal expertise and became the head negotiator for this dispute. A media frenzy enveloped the public, and the Government, with both sides regularly publishing full-page statements in the newspapers. In the summer of 2004 David and the Minister for Utilities signed a Heads-of-Agreement signalling an end to the dispute. The Government had threatened to refer the matter to the Grand Court, which would have been a conflict of interest on David's part, who's brother is the current Chief Justice of the Cayman Islands, The Honourable Anthony Smellie QC JP, but this was no longer necessary and so not a problem.

David was also contracted by the Government on a committee to consult about the EU Tax Savings Directive. The Cayman Islands Government had been arguing that this directive would harm the financial centre that Cayman has become, and sent a team including David to the EU Court of First Instance to argue Cayman's case. The Court agreed that the EU could not force the directive on Cayman - a victory for the Government.

Honours

He is also a member of the Cayman Islands Law Society (Past President) and the Private Sector Consultative Committee (as the representative of the Law Society,) and was previously a member of the Cayman Bar Association, but resigned due to the CBA Executive's decision to engage in a politically dangerous course of challenging the Government about the grants of status.

David earned himself great respect in the Cayman Islands for the service he gave, as he was made a Justice of the Peace and earned the Quincentennial Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of Law from the Government in 2003, along with his brother The Honourable Anthony Smellie QC, JP, who is the current Chief Justice of the Cayman Islands, in celebration of of the Cayman Islands 500th year. He is listed on the Quincentennial Wall of Honour in Heroes' Square, as a person who has contributed significantly to building the Cayman Islands the world knows today. David was honoured as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2003 for services to the Government and the community. In receiving this honour, David said: "Like many whose efforts in society have been recognised over the years, I never gave my time in the expectation of anything in return, save for the satisfaction of having made a difference in a positive way. To now join the ranks of those distinguished persons who have been similarly honoured in the past is an experience for which I will always be deeply grateful.”

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article David Ritch