Astute Attorney-at-law, Andrew Pollard S.C. is a ‘Special Person’

May 20, 2018 Features / Columnists, News, Special Person

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 “As we say in law, the day you stop reading, is the day you stop learning, is the day you start dying. Law is a constantly evolving legal system, it is never static. As social factors change and evolve, the law has to change to accommodate them or the law becomes irrelevant and archaic… lawyers have to stay abreast of changes in the law if they themselves are to stay relevant.”

 

By Sharmain Grainger

“You cannot pay too much attention to detail.”
This has been the motto that Andrew Pollard has premised his entire career on as an astute lawyer. It might be for this very reason that he has remained one of the most outstanding legal professionals our dear land has ever produced.
The distinguished gentleman was on December 31, 2017 appointed Senior Counsel by President David Granger. Senior Counsel is a coveted title given to recognised senior lawyers in some countries that were part of the British Empire.
But the title of Senior Counsel has not in any way changed the way that this Hughes, Field and Stoby law firm partner operates.

During a recent interview, he emphasised that paying attention to detail has always been and will continue to be his strong point when it comes to practicing law. Moreover, his advice to young lawyers is “when you are preparing cases, pay attention to detail, it helps; you may not realise it, but it helps.”
EARLY BEGINNINGS
Born May 16, 1963 at the St Joseph Mercy Hospital, Andrew Mark Fitzgerald Pollard was the second of four children that the union of Brynmor and Jean Pollard yielded.
As a young boy he recalled his family living in Fifth Avenue, Subryanville, Georgetown, before moving to New Garden Street, another section of the capital city. The property on which his family resided currently accommodates the Ministry of the Presidency, but back in the day it was just known as the agricultural compound.
“There were a number of houses there that civil servants were allowed to occupy,” Pollard remembered of his boyhood place of abode. Indeed his family were among those taking up residence there because of his father’s position as Chief Parliamentary Counsel with the then Attorney General’s Chambers.
Pollard recalled that his father, who is also presently a distinguished Senior Counsel and a recipient of The Order of Roraima, was, along with his wife, able to make a comfortable existence for their children there.
He noted too that although his father was the main breadwinner, his mother certainly did not leave her husband to be the sole income-earner, as she was the driving force behind the ever-thriving ‘World of Flowers’ establishment.

As he fondly reflected on his younger days, Pollard shared his belief that “It was a different age back then; children could roam at large…but in a lot of ways, you can’t allow children to do that now. When we left home at 9am on Saturdays on our bicycles, we would collect our friends and go into the Gardens. We would swim in a huge pond [located at the now D’Urban Park], sail boats and catch fish and we wouldn’t stop until around six in the evening.”
“Now you can’t think of nine and 10-year-old boys doing that, you would think of them being abducted, tortured and even worse,” Pollard reflected.
SCHOOLING
Although he had a particular fondness for fun activities, Pollard was not exempted from embracing some serious schooling too. He attended the Anglican Church-operated, Convent of the Good Shepherd School, currently St. Gabriel’s Primary, and after sitting the Common Entrance examination, he was able to gain a place at the prestigious Queen’s College.

But although his high school days were the years that helped to mould him into an intelligent young man, those were in fact among the most enjoyable years of his upbringing.
“Queen’s College was a very, very satisfying period of my life; I enjoyed my high school…I went to an excellent school,” a gleeful Pollard shared. It was at that institution he recalled making some life-long friends including the likes of professional cricketer and coach, Roger Harper; Dr. Nadia Ramdin, currently a United States-based Oncologist/Haematologist; Editor at Kaieteur News, Nigel McKenzie, and a number of others too.
“I may not have learnt a lot at the time, but I had a lot of fun,” joked Pollard, as he revealed that “Queen’s College was such a multifaceted place, it encouraged you to be curious. You could express yourself in Art, Music, Sports…it was not at all just dry academic toil.”
BECOMING A LAWYER
Commencing studies in law was the immediate next move for the young Pollard after completing high school. Since his institution of choice was the University of West Indies, as a Caribbean national he was required to undertake Part One of the programme at the University of Guyana.
The final two years for his three-year law degree was completed at the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados. By October of 1985, Pollard was attending Law School in Jamaica.
However, he confided that becoming a lawyer was not a decision he had made from the inception. In fact, he recalled that he was rather versatile and was actually considering a few options before he was finally battling to choose between two.

“I was fortunate, or unfortunate, to be one of those children who could do several things, and so I had to ultimately make a choice between Commercial Art and Law. I decided to do Law; not because I liked it more than Commercial Art, but I always wanted to live in the Caribbean, and the lifeline of Commercial Art is big business and I didn’t see myself living in Toronto, London or New York, so I opted to do Law,” he explained.
After completing law school in October of 1987, he immediately started practicing at the Hughes, Fields and Stoby law firm [currently located at Hadfield Street, Georgetown] and he has never looked back.
Pollard revealed too that it was even before he completed law school, he was assured a place at the reputable establishment which is currently headed by his friend and prominent lawyer, Nigel Hughes. The founding partner of the firm, Mr. Clarence Hughes, is the father of Nigel Hughes and Pollard’s Godfather.
“I owe him a huge debt of gratitude,” said Pollard of the late Clarence Hughes as he recalled, “He and my father were friends from the ‘50s. They both studied in London and he always insisted from day one ‘I have a desk for Andrew, when he graduates he is coming here, he’s not going anywhere else’,” Pollard shared.
During his semester breaks, the young Pollard was given an opportunity to work at the firm which, according to him, served as a “dress rehearsal for fulltime employment.” He was also often encouraged by the senior Hughes to always read a case every day, an admonition he now passes on to young lawyers.
But although his employment was planned years before he even started practicing law, Pollard assured that becoming a lawyer was indeed a forte he was destined for.
“I enjoy what I do and that is a good thing. I would regard it as a sentence to have to get up every day to do something that you do not like,” said Pollard. He however intimated, “the law like anything else has its drawbacks and disadvantages, but I can’t think of any area that doesn’t…There are moments when you are frustrated, infuriated, when you are upset, but by and large it is a very satisfying profession,” he admitted.
Indeed it might have been because of the pride he took in his practice, that a number of his cases became prominently recognised. The young Pollard had become well known for his fierce representation in Possession Courts. Being a fledgling lawyer did not mean that he was not worth his salt. Rather, he was beaming with enthusiasm which often saw the presiding judge or magistrate ruling to uphold his well-researched and presented arguments.
Among his most notable cases back in the day was that of Tyson Kandasammy v. Patrick Lall which established locus classicus in law, in the sense that it finally settled what had been a very heated contention in the area of Possession Law. The matter had seen the young Pollard arguing that “in matters of Possession Law when moving for a warrant of ejectment, it is not required for the Magistrate to conduct a full hearing of evidence, as he or she had done during an initial hearing.”
A magistrate ruling to uphold his argument was indeed a big deal, as Pollard recalled that back then Possession Courts were very hotly contested courts.
“As a young lawyer I practiced a lot in Possession Courts, but recently it has receded in importance, because over the past 20 to 25 years, Government has made other housing available which has taken a lot of the pressure off of the Possession Court.”
He however noted that “before the advent of those [available housing], tenants were not eager to give up premises voluntarily, because it was very difficult to find alternative accommodation. When landlords moved to court for possession, almost invariably it was a very hotly contested affair”.
REMAINING RELEVANT
Although the modest Pollard would only admit to being a “reasonably” successful lawyer, he revealed that he was able to remain relevant over the years by keeping abreast with the evolution of the practice. This he was able to do by simply reading.
“As we say in law, the day you stop reading, is the day you stop learning, is the day you start dying. Law is a constantly evolving legal system, it is never static. As social factors change and evolve, the law has to change to accommodate them or the law becomes irrelevant and archaic. So to stay relevant the law has to change with primary social factors that work in society, and lawyers have to stay abreast of changes in the law if they themselves are to stay relevant.”
With the changing times, Pollard had to understandably redirect his focus. In fact he divulged that in recent times he has been giving increased attention to transactional work. He has also given a great deal of attention to mining law and has been quite active in the petroleum sector.
Although all lawyers must deliberately strive to remain relevant, Pollard noted that the hallmark of a good lawyer will always remain the same, and that he outlined should be “To satisfy your client while staying within the four confines of the law. One should not outweigh or outstrip the other, and you have to be very careful with that because some lawyers, in their urge to satisfy their clients, allow themselves to stray outside of the four corners of the law and that is always a very serious thing”.
The seasoned legal luminary also noted that lawyers must simultaneously guard against an overly restrictive interpretation of the law which could prevent their clients from being properly represented and obtaining their due.
“As a lawyer, you have to look at a situation and decide what is fair, and make sure you can realise your client’s interest best,” said Pollard. He also highlighted the need for lawyers to always remember that “we are officers of the court and our primary responsibility, at least in the context of litigation, is to the court, and not to our clients. So that we cannot advocate our client’s interests so fiercely and so zealously that we are disloyal or disregard the court.”
Being a member of the Bar, essentially serves as an extended family to those within the legal fraternity. Pollard revealed that even when lawyers would have contested fiercely their clients’ case in a court of law, once they exit that realm their camaraderie usually remains intact.
“We generally enjoy very convivial relationships with each other. Lawyers are supposed to advocate their clients’ cause and represent them as fully as they can, but at the end of the day when you would have left the courtroom you put aside your client’s cause and you can deal with your fellow attorneys who are all members of the same profession as you are.”
FAMILY LIFE
But his life has not been only about his law practice. You see it was after he’d worked to establish himself as a noteworthy legal practitioner that Pollard met and eventually married his wife of two decades, Gigi Macedo. He recalled meeting his wife for the first time as literally being by accident. “We met in a road accident…a tyre had blown out on her vehicle on the East Coast Public Road and it went off the road. I rescued her and took her to hospital and we became friends after that and as they say, one thing led to another and the rest is history,” Pollard said.
Since tying the knot in 1997, the union has produced four children – Gina, Angelica, Nikolas and Nataliya.
Speaking glowingly of his family, Pollard disclosed that it is his wife who has been able to keep him grounded as a professional and family man over the years.
“My wife is an extremely talented businesswoman, she manages to keep several balls in the air,” which according to a smiling Pollard, also includes ensuring that he makes quality time for family-oriented activities.
But what might be the most crucial ingredient that keeps Pollard an outstanding individual and worthy of being named our ‘Special Person’ today is his ability to give his utmost to whatever he pursues.

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