Cayman’s political and business elite gathered at Kimpton Seafire Resort
+ Spa on 29 Jan. to celebrate the longevity of the jurisdiction’s oldest law firm.
Appleby Cayman’s Managing Partner, Norman Klein, gave a speech that recalled the firm’s long history in the islands. Its origin in Cayman can be traced back to when Clifton Hunter began practising as a law agent in 1945. His son, Arthur Hunter, later became the first Caymanian to be academically qualified as an attorney, and he joined his father’s legal practice to form Hunter & Hunter in 1965.
Klein noted that a key moment in the nascent firm’s development came in 1969 when Ian Boxall, a newly arrived British solicitor, joined as an associate before becoming partner in 1972. Together they were involved in key legal projects, such as marking out Cayman’s existing pattern of land ownership in a cadastral system, that helped underpin the jurisdiction’s subsequent economic boom. They were part of “a small group of visionaries – attorneys and government officials – who are widely credited with establishing Cayman as an offshore financial centre,” said Klein.
Premier André Ebanks, whose CV includes a stint at Appleby as an investment funds associate before joining the civil service, delivered a keynote address that recalled major moments in the firm’s recent past, including the transformative merger in 2006 that ultimately saw ‘Hunter’ dropped from the firm’s name when it became simply Appleby.
Bryan Hunter, the third generation of Hunters to lead the firm, who remained as its Cayman managing partner until 2020, was present at the event.
Shaping Cayman’s future
But the night wasn’t just about the past. The presence of senior members of government, such as Minister for Caymanian Employment Michael Myles and Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, showed Appleby still has a role to play in its future.
Klein was keen to emphasise that Appleby’s scholarship programme “is developing the next generation of Caymanian attorneys”. Renamed the Appleby Liesl Richter Legal Scholarship Programme in memory of Liesl Richter, an Appleby partner who passed away in 2023, the scholarship provides funding to study law at the Truman Bodden Law School or an approved overseas university.
Worth more than US$150,000, the scholarship covers tuition fees, examination fees and textbook costs. Recipients are also provided with four weeks’ work experience every summer. The deadline for the 2026 scholarship applications is 2 March.
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