Lawyer loses legal battle for final grade
March 07, 2009
Attorney-at-law Roger Archibald, who is registered to practise in New York, United States, has lost his legal battle in the Supreme Court to get an order to compel the Council of Legal Education to change his final failing grade at the Norman Manley Law School.
Archibald said he wished to extend his practice to the Commonwealth Caribbean so he registered as a student at the law school and pursued the six-month course. He was given a failing grade at the end of his course.
assured a pass
He appealed to the council, requesting that his final grade be changed to a passing mark on the basis that although he received failing grade D on the first two assignments, he received an A on the last of the three assignments. He claimed that a senior tutor assured him before he submitted the last assignment that if he got an A for that assignment, he would have passed the course.
However, the council refused his request to change the grade on the premise that the final grade awarded was not unreasonable and was consistent with the standard used for many years to assess the performance of students of the law school.
Archibald, who was represented by attorneys-at-law David Batts and Teri-Ann Brown, took the issue to the Supreme Court seeking several determinations, one of which was "whether the conclusion that two Ds and an A amount to a failing grade is unreasonable, wrong in law and contrary to established academic practice". The court was also asked to determine whether Archibald held a legitimate expectation based on the assertion of the senior tutor....
Author: Barbara Gayle
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
