The Magnificent Seven: Cayman’s world class bench

‘The quality of our judges? It’s like explaining that you have Lionel Messi and he’s really good; it just doesn’t need explaining’ What Cayman’s leading disputes lawyers have to say about their judges.

Financial services are a major pillar of the Cayman economy – one knock-on effect is related disputes. In recognition of the need for special procedures in dealing with more complex civil cases that arise out of Cayman’s financial sector, The Financial Services Division of the Grand Court (FSD) was created in 2009. Since inception, the FSD has dealt with more than 2,000 such cases.

The Grand Court is a Superior Court of Record of First Instance, within which the FSD is a separate division. The scope of the FSD’s jurisdiction is laid down by the Grand Court Rules which contain a definition of “financial services proceedings.” These include proceedings relating to: mutual funds, exempted insurers, contracts of insurance, regulatory laws, administration actions and trust claims, company matters (including winding-up), partnership disputes, claims against professional service providers and arbitration claims.

The FSD is served by seven judges including the Chief Justice, currently Justice Marlene Carter, and three of the other full time Judges of the Grand Court, as well as three part time Judges, who together provide extensive experience of and judicial expertise in a wide range of disputes including large commercial and corporate cases with a substantial international element.