Influencing Practice
Bluff vegetation in Cayman Brac
Knowledge Exchange
The Cayman Islands had no textbooks on land law or conveyancing transactions when I arrived. After analysing the laws and interviewing most of the real estate lawyers on the island, it was clear to me that there was little consensus on practice and standards. I spent ten years working on analysis and solutions.
I developed my study through a Master’s degree on Cayman land transactions, and then wrote my Doctorate on Cayman land law. I spoke at conferences and published academic papers in law journals on the topic.
They formed a useful source of technical knowledge dissemination for lawyers and judges in Cayman. They were also useful in other British Overseas Territories which shared similar laws: one paper dealt with errors in the land register in the British Virgin Islands, another with legal issues affecting land in Montserrat, and yet another with strata titles in the Turks & Caicos Islands.
These publications have been used by lawyers in practice - I regularly receive requests for copies of these papers from lawyers - and they have also been relied upon by courts when deciding cases - in both the Cayman Islands (see this case, para.15) and the Turks & Caicos Islands (see this case, para.23).
Setting Standards
My published papers were a platform from which I was able to write the conveyancing book: Conveyancing Law and Practice in the Cayman Islands. It became a foundation for Cayman legal practice. The book’s purpose is not simply to describe what lawyers were doing, but offers thought leadership in setting out a reasoned basis for what lawyers ought to do in terms of professional standards and expectations according to best practice ideals.
I am delighted to hear that the book has served its purpose. Lawyers have told me that it is used in daily practice. It seems to be used in all of the firms on island. Its recommendations on fuller conveyancing searches are now typically adopted in transactions, leading to clients being better informed about the status of the land they buy.
A new real estate lawyer told me that he was given a copy by his employer when he arrived on island in 2021, with his employer’s instructions to prepare for Cayman practice by reading it from cover to cover during his week of covid quarantine! Another lawyer said he believed that the book had opened up better training for Caymanians, with the effect of increasing competition in the sector. I hope that is true.
The book has also be relied on by litigators as setting the benchmark for professional standards. It has been cited by them in court proceedings for that purpose. Judges have relied upon it when giving their judgments, so it has directly influenced the law in the Cayman Islands courts (see here, para.15). The President of the Law Society described it in glowing terms:
"Exceeded my most optimistic expectations...
...will be relied upon by practitioners and cited in the Grand Court
...will be the standard text"
- President of the Law Society (see here)
Crown seabed structures at Grand Turk
The conveyancing book is now in its fourth edition.
It is required reading on the Cayman Bar course.
On the strength of the book and my other publications, I was made Visiting Professor at the Jersey Institute of Law and they appointed me as consultant to prepare the draft of a book on land transfer in three jurisdictions with the British Crown Dependencies - Guernsey, Alderney and Sark. It is now required reading on the Guernsey Bar course.
I recently wrote the book on the basic land law of the Cayman Islands. It examines systemic issues, offers technical answers and recommends policy reforms to resolve the problems. The Attorney-General praised it as:
"a notable enrichment for
the Cayman Islands legal system
...valuable to everyone who wants to
think more deeply about issues in land law"
-Attorney General of the Cayman Islands
My books on Caribbean property:
This is an in-depth study and analysis of some of problematic issues in Caribbean land regimes-
“Cayman Islands Land Law: Insights and Solutions”
(2025), 628 pages
This is the leading text on real estate transactions which is in everyday use by practitioners and cited in court-
“Conveyancing Law and Practice in the Cayman
Islands” 4th edition (2019), 595 pages
This is the leading text on inheritance of property-
“Inheritance Law and Practice in the Cayman Islands”
1st edition (2025), 935 pages
This is the book which regulates procedures in the land registry-
“Land Registry Procedure Manual”
(2010), 145 pages
My journal publications on Caribbean property:
“Strata Regimes in British Overseas Territories”
West Indies Law Journal (submittted)
“The Received Law of Montserrat”
Caribbean Law Review (forthcoming)
“Good Governance and Crown Lands”
in L. Smith “Surveying the Past, Mapping the Future” (Cambridge Scholars, 2016)
“Public Administration and Land Markets”
(2013) 31 Cayman Financial Review 46-8
“Privilege and Equality amongst Testamentary Creditors”
(2012) 41 Common Law World Review 322-353
“Partition of Land in the Commonwealth Caribbean”
(2010) 39 Common Law World Review 283-310
“Guardianship and Dealings with Infants’ Lands”
(2009) Caribbean Law Review 66
“Payment of Price and Transfer of Title”
(2009) Caribbean Law Review 31-41
“Lifetime Occupation Rights”
(2009) 34 West Indies Law Journal 59-82
“The Land Registrar’s Powers of Correction”
(2006) 31 West Indies Law Journal 1
“Professional Standards in Conveyancing Searches”
(2006) 16 Caribbean Law Review 36-58
“Title Information Sources in the Cayman Islands”
(2005) 15 Caribbean Law Review 1-21
“Equity and Unregistered Interests in Commonwealth Land Systems” (2004) 3 Oxford University Journal of Commonwealth Law 201-224
“Interests in Land under the Registered Land Law”
(2004) 29 West Indies Law Journal 85-107
“Escheat and Landholding Capacity of Corporations”
(2002) 20 Cayman Islands Law Bulletin 58
“Public and Private Guarantees of Title”
(2000) 10 Caribbean Law Rev 10-29
“Implied Easements in the Commonwealth Caribbean”
(2000) 25 West Indies Law Journal 71-92
“Registered Title and Equitable Claims”
(1998) 23 West Indies Law Journal 126-130
“Land Registration and Proprietary Estoppel”
(1996) 6 Caribbean Law Review 478
“Indemnity in Land Registration Statutes of the British Overseas Territories”
(1996) 21 West Indies Law Journal 1-24
“Indefeasibility of Title in the British Dependent Territories”
(1995) 20 West Indies Law Journal 22-30
“Equitable Relief in Security Transactions” (1996) 15 Cayman Islands Law Bulletin 66
“Enforcement of Informal Land Mortgages” (1994) 11 Cayman Islands Law Bulletin 59
... and many more!
Some of my 50+ publications on property law,
most of which relate to the British Overseas Territories
