Hari Narayen Ramkarran was admitted to practice in Guyana in 1973, having qualified as a barrister of Gray’s Inn, London, England, in 1972. He became an attorney-at-law when the two branches of the legal profession were merged. He joined Cameron & Shepherd in 1977, became a partner in 1982 and is now the firm’s Senior Partner. He was appointed a Senior Counsel in 1996. Mr. Ramkarran served as a member of the Bar Council for over ten years and is a past secretary of the Guyana Bar Association. He was Chairman of the Constitution Reform Commission in 1999-2000 and was Speaker of the National Assembly of Guyana from 2001 to 2011.
Firm Overview:
Cameron & Shepherd is the oldest law firm in Guyana. It has been in continuous operation as a partnership since 4 April 1901.
Since its inception, the firm has had a substantial commercial and corporate law practice. Records surviving from 1905 and 1910 show in-depth analysis of the principles of those areas.
The law reports of British Guiana and Guyana, and since 1958, the West Indian Reports (WIR), are replete with cases argued by Cameron & Shepherd, including many which have become important precedents.
In one of the landmark cases argued by the firm, unjust enrichment was recognised as a substantive doctrine in the law of Guyana twenty-one years before its acceptance in England.
Another, on carriage of goods by air, has been reported in Lloyd’s Law Reports and twice cited in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.
In addition, several of the firm’s cases are on course outlines at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad.
Cameron & Shepherd has a large litigation practice which spans debt recovery, enforcement of securities, contracts, tort, admiralty, probate and administration, intellectual property and all the other areas of services which we offer. We advise overseas clients on large scale contracts and perform due diligence studies. Our litigation experience extends to mining and forestry, which are large and growing industries, particularly mining.
The firm acted in the first Guyana constitutional law case appearing in the WIR and is increasingly heavily involved in constitutional and public law cases generally and through its representation of a number of statutory bodies and authorities.
Cameron & Shepherd is the largest conveyancing and intellectual property practitioner in the country and has appeared in all the trade marks and patents cases reported in the WIR.
Established initially by two solicitors to represent businesses engaged mainly in commercial activity, Cameron & Shepherd has grown extensively since 1901 and now offers a far wider range of services and expertise, including to overseas clients who require legal services in Guyana. Our five partners and consultant offer more than 175 years of legal experience and our thirty-five staff are among the best trained in Guyana.
