Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

C. Dennis Morrison - File

C. Dennis Morrison, Queen's Counsel, has been named a judge of the Jamaican Court of Appeal, an appointment welcomed warmly by members of the legal profession.

His appointment was made by the Judicial Service Commission, and takes effect on May 1.

John Leiba, president of the Jamaican Bar Association, says Morrison has had extensive practising experience at both the civil and criminal Bar, and has appeared in the several courts of the island as well as before the United Kingdom Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Jamaica's highest court of appeal.

"He has 32 years of unstinting service in the legal profession and I think he will do a tremendous job in the Court of Appeal," Leiba said.

Valuable contribution

Leiba also described Morrison as a "gentleman, well learned in the law", adding that Morrison's considerable academic history was recognised throughout the region.

George Soutar, president of the Advocates' Association of Jamaica, said Morrison "will make a valuable contribution to the judiciary".

Morrison, 57, has been, since 1985, a partner in DunnCox, the Kingston law firm where he heads the litigation department. He also serves as a judge of the Appeal Court in Belize, of which another Jamaican, retired Court of Appeal Judge Boyd Carey, is president.

He went to two high schools in Kingston; first, to Jamaica College, where he did his O'Level examinations, and then to Wolmer's where he studied for his A'Levels.

He has served on the board of directors of the Bank of Jamaica, the central bank; RBTT Bank of Jamaica, and has been chairman of various boards, including the Council of Legal Education, the Kingston Legal Aid Clinic, the Legal Aid Council of Jamaica, the Kingston YMCA and Life of Jamaica.

Twice married, his current wife, Janet, is also a lawyer; he has two sons from his previous marriage.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com

Road of success

Earned B.A. (Hons.) degree in English and history at UWI, Mona, 1971; LL.B. at Cave Hill, Barbados, 1973.

Certificate of Legal Education at Norman Manley Law School, along with highly coveted Certificate of Merit.

Jamaican Rhodes Scholar, 1975.

Read law at Oxford University, United Kingdom.

Admitted to Jamaican Bar in 1975.

Appointed Queen's Counsel in 1994.

Vice-president and president, Jamaican Bar Association, from 1992-1999.