The eight-year-old, gold standard, legal conference, to be held for the first time in the Cayman Islands at the prestigious Ritz-Carlton in a few weeks' time, could possibly see a drop in attendance numbers due to the visa requirement for Jamaican attorneys.

The Caribbean Commercial Law Workshop (CCLW) stands amongst the foremost legal conferences internationally because of its ability to attract first-rate, internationally known, speakers and also, the most reputable speakers from the region, explained Canadian Attorney-at-Law and Workshop Coordinator, Harris Wineberg.

However, as the website for the 8th Annual, 2006 event was posted, there was a significant, first-time addition to the Conference's Internet domain: "Cayman Entry Requirements: Jamaicans may require a visa for entry. Click here for details."

Mr Wineberg - who has handled the conferences from inception eight years ago - visited Cayman for a few days in mid-July to, as he said,  "hold pre-conference meetings with the hotel staff, become familiar with the various departments and make audiovisual and other arrangements."

In an interview with Cayman Net News, he explained that the Conference has been held in various Caribbean islands throughout the years and that Jamaican attorneys usually composed a significant number in the group of some 100 plus professionals in attendance.

"I am hoping that the visa requirement won't discourage Jamaican lawyers from attending," he said.

Mr Wineberg underscored his appreciation to the Cayman Islands Government for waiving certain documents normally required for the visa application process, but said that the possible effect on numbers coming from that island was a concern.

According to information posted on the Conference website: "Jamaicans travelling on Jamaican passports intending to attend the 8th Annual Caribbean Commercial Law Workshop in Cayman, should take notice that they will need a visa to enter the Cayman Islands.

"Attendees will need to fill out a visa application form and pay the appropriate fees...but the Cayman authorities have waived the requirements to submit job letters, bank statements and to obtain a police record.

"To qualify for the waiver, all visa applications should state that the purpose of the visit is to attend the Caribbean Commercial Law Workshop."

Jamaican attorneys fall amongst other lawyers in the 54 Commonwealth territories around the world - countries as far flung as Hong Kong and New Zealand - that practice English common law.

However, for these Jamaican attorneys visiting here to attend the three-day - 20 to 22 August 2006 - prestigious event, this year's Conference has an additional US$100 plus visa bill.

Though some Jamaican attorneys have already confirmed that the additional sum would be insignificant in the whole matter, that amount is in addition to per-person registration fees, which range between US$750 and US$850 and, the US$195 per night figure posted on the Conference site for Ritz-Carlton's room charges.

To the contrary, what these Jamaican attorneys have highlighted as an important determinant in getting to the Conference is the additional time needed to process the applications.

Though Jamaican Senior Legal Counsel and Workshop speaker, Derek Jones, said that he did not expect the visa requirement to have a significant effect on attendance and that "generally" he expected things to go smoothly, he also said, "The usual last-minute problem" - with attorneys being too busy to attend to the process until very close to departure date - may have some kind of impact.

Paula Chen See at the Cayman Islands Visa Office in Jamaica immediately confirmed that she knew of the Conference and of the special arrangements. However, she was only able to confirm that she had already received a few applications in relation to the event.

"Five came in yesterday. Applications are coming in slowly. But as to what each person will get (term for visa) I am not sure. That is handled by the Immigration Officers in Cayman."

Cayman Net News could not confirm whether the fact that some visa requirements had been waived for the lawyers, will mean that, as a rule, their US$100 plus will only gain them single-entry visas, as efforts to contact the relevant Immigration personnel proved futile up to press time.

Mr Wineberg brings to the Workshop-organisation process his many years as an attorney in his home territory, in British Columbia, as well as eight years as Director of The Legal Drafting Graduate Programme at the University of the West Indies.

Speaking about the Conference Mr Wineberg said, "The diversity of the audience, with lawyers coming from places such as Guyana and Belize, always makes the Conference interesting."

On the other hand, he also said that the many lawyers who are past students of the University of the West Indies, provides a virtual "alumni" type of environment, which is also good.

He explained that in selecting topics for the Conference what is of interest to lawyers practicing commercial law is important.

"After each Conference we circulate a questionnaire for lawyers to name the topics they would like to see listed for the following year. We are proud to be on the cutting edge of what's hot in legal issues," he added.

Mr Wineberg said that discussions on legal issues of interest to commercial lawyers arising out of the Cricket World Cup 2007 Caribbean event - to be dealt with by Derek Jones, senior legal counsel of Cricket World Cup 2007 - was included because of the "attractiveness" of the topic and the very size of the event.

He identified Corporate Governance as "always a hot topic" and explained that "in order to not get too specialised, Caribbean Perspectives" would be placed alongside activity in the USA and Canada as well.

He pointed out that the Cayman lawyers would be of interest at such a Workshop where the focus would be on Financial Services.

"Cayman is a perfect fit for this," he said.

Attorneys practicing here who will address the conference include Charles Quin, QC, and Neal Lomax of Quin & Hampson; Nigel Porteous and Justin Appleyard of Maples and Calder; Langston Sibblies of General Counsel for Cayman Islands Monetary Authority; and Greg Bennett, Butterfield Bank.