From left) Court of Appeal President Sir John Chadwick, Registrar Audrey Bodden, Justice Ian Forte, OJ, CD, Justice Dr. Abdullah Conteh, QC and Chief Justice Anthony Smellie, QC (Cayman GIS Photo)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Cayman lawyers bid farewell last week to Justice Ian Xavier Forte, who retired from the Cayman Islands Appeal Court. Justice Forte is ending his career after 51 years in the law. Forte had replaced the late Caribbean legal legend Ira Rowe in 2004 as a member of the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal. Forte had previously served as President of the Jamaica Court of Appeals for five years, and served as a Judge of Appeal in Jamaica from 1988 to 1999. Forte’s wife is the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in Jamaica, Marlene Malahoo Forte.