By Clint Chan Tack Thursday, August 20 2009

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Legal brief: English QC Allan Newman, left, and fellow lawyer and Tabaquite MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj listen as Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner, right,...

BRITISH Queen’s Counsel (QC) Allan Newman yesterday said he was not breaching any professional obligations by legally representing Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner against his former client, Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday.

Newman made this statement following a three-hour meeting with Warner, Tabaquite MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and local attorneys Anand Ramlogan and Om Lalla at Warner’s Concacaf office on Edward Street, Port-of-Spain.

Warner said the meeting was inconclusive about whether legal action would be taken against Panday or the UNC national executive. The meeting will continue today at the same venue.

Newman represented Panday in March 2006 when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court to face three charges of knowingly failing to declare a bank account he held at the Natwest Bank in London to the Integrity Commission for the years 1997, 1998 and 1999. Panday was found guilty on April 24, 2006 and sentenced to two years in jail.

Newman played no role in follow-up action before the Court of Appeal or the Privy Council in London which respectively quashed Panday’s sentence and ordered a re-trial. Panday was represented by Maharaj and Richard Clayton QC respectively in these matters.

Maharaj and Newman arrived together at Warner’s office at 11.30 am. They were joined an hour later by Ramlogan and Lalla who arrived separately. When the meeting ended at 2 pm, Newman told reporters there was nothing unusual about him representing Warner, having previously represented Panday.

Warner disclosed that he received “tonnes of calls” from inside and outside of the UNC, begging him not to pursue litigation against Panday or the party.

Hinting that reconciliation was possible, Warner said: “This thing does not give me any happiness, any comfort whatsoever. I would much rather prefer to use my energies to fight Mr Patrick Manning and the PNM than to fight Mr Panday.”

Warner said the meeting dealt with Panday’s alleged defamatory remarks against him; the referral of Maharaj, Mayaro MP Winston “Gypsy” Peters and himself to the UNC’s disciplinary committee and plans by the UNC national executive to discipline UNC councillors Falicia Issahak and Narsingh Rambaran for supporting the appointment of Natasha Navas as the Chaguanas mayor.

Contacted in New York, where he is attending a GOPIO conference, Panday said he was not bothered about Newman representing Warner. “Lawyers appear for whoever retains their services,” he stated. Panday described Warner and his actions as “irrelevant” and said the UNC was “totally capable” of dealing with the Chaguanas West MP if he initiates legal action in his absence.