Law firm Silk Legal has claimed that it was the former Premier Andrew Fahie who instructed them to file the injunction matter against the Commissioner of Inquiry and his three attorneys.
Silk Legal was the legal representation for the former Speaker of the House of Assembly Julian Willock during the Commission of Inquiry hearings.
The injunction was quickly discontinued after Justice Adrian Jack had indicated to Willock and his attorneys that the Attorney General’s permission was needed to proceed with the case.
The claim by Silk was filed as a submission to the Special Select Committee of the House of Assembly, which was established to decide whether Willock would be made to pay the legal bill of approximately $106,000 or whether the taxpayers through the government’s purse would be responsible.
In the letter, Silk Legal said, “we at Silk Legal (BVI) Inc were instructed verbally and on multiple occasions by the then Premier and Minister for Finance, the Honourable Mr. Andrew A. Fahie to file for an injunction against the COI lawyers, who were acting in criminal breach of the Legal Professions Act 2015.”
It added, “In fact, we received numerous phone calls directly from the then Premier, directing that the matter be filed without delay. lt should be borne in mind that the Premier signed the contract under which we acted.”
Deputy Speaker also instructed Willock
The letter further claimed that the Deputy Speaker Honourable Neville Smith also reached out to Willock regarding the injunction.
“The Honourable Speaker also indicated that he received a telephone call from the Deputy Speaker, the Honourable Neville A. Smith, that the then Premier had instructed him to ask the then Speaker to instruct Silk Legal (BVI) Inc to file for this injunction,” the letter stated.
The letter was signed by attorneys Daniel Davies and Richard Rowe.
Just yesterday it was reported that Willock will have to pay just over $106,000 out of his pockets for the legal fees incurred during his discontinued injunction case.
This after the Special Select Committee concluded that the former Speaker’s action was not deemed warranted and was without merit.