David Elliott Ritch (born 1951) is a

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

attorney who has done private and governmental work.

Legal career

David Ritch received his law degree from the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

with honours, and was admitted to the bar in 1976 from the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

; in England as

Barrister-at-Law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the law and giv ...

and Cayman Islands as Attorney-at-Law. He first worked at the Cayman Islands Courts Office and then moved into the private sector working at law firm Hunter & Hunter. In 1983, David Ritch founded a private firm, Ritch & Conolly, with stepfather Warren Conolly which at one time became the second-largest Caymanian-owned practice on the island. The firm is rated as one of the top two Caymanian real estate firms by the website Legal500.

Commercial work

He has served as a director of the Caribbean Utilities Company and became the chairman in October 2003. On 19 December 2013, Ritch was appointed

non-executive chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the

CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank CIBC Caribbean is a financial services company based in Barbados and the Caribbean subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). The bank was founded in 2002 as FirstCaribbean International Bank through the merger of the Carib ...

, having been on the bank's board since 2002.

Government work

David Ritch has had appointments on numerous Cayman Islands government boards including chairman of the Planning Appeals Tribunal (1987-1989), member of the Cayman Islands Currency Board (1987-1997), Chairman of the Labour Laws Appeals Tribunal (1988-1991), Chairman of the Caymanian Protection Board (1989-1990), Chairman of the Port Authority (1992-2003, chairman of the Trade and Business Licensing Board (2000-2002) and chairman of the Immigration Board (2002-2003). In 2005, he began as chairman of the Work Permit Board and the Immigration Review Team (a Cabinet committee), where he reduced the large backlog of applications and reformed the immigration law. He resigned his chairmanship of the Work Permit Board in April 2007. Ritch was appointed chairman of the Constitutional Commission, a body promoting

good governance Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for t ...

, for a period of three years.

Biography

David Ritch is married with three children and was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 2003 for public service in the Cayman Islands. He is also a Justice of the Peace in George Town.

References

External links

David Ritch at Ritch & Conolly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritch, David Caymanian lawyers Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire 1951 births