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Lewis Ba<glietfo:

For many lawyers — and traditionally this has been largely true of Gibraltar's bar fraternity -litigation (or legal work involving possible court appearances, as we laymen see it) is regarded as little more than a stepping stone to other, often more lucrative facets of the legal profession. However interesting and challenging lower court appearances may be, they are often seen as a lowly rung on the ladder of professional advancement "chores on which young lawyers cut their teeth".

But this has not been so for Lewis Baglietto who recently took over from David Dumas QC as head of the litigation division of the Gibral tar international law firm Hassans following the latler's appointment as Queen's Counsel, Baglietto, who has been a partner in the firm for the past decade, will head a team of ten lawyers and will be respon sible for "assessing who will han dle what"(as he puts it)in terms of any business which involves, or may involve,litigation.Dumas,one of the youngest Gibraltar barristers to take silk, will retain his links with the team in a consultative role.

Baglietto, who was called to the bar after studying law at King's College, London, joined Hassans soon afterwards. That was in 1986 fairly mixed practice with appear ances in the magistrates' court and Court of First Instance, and litiga tion became the focus of my legal interest from the start," he says.

"It's a common misconception that litigation is something one should handle only for the first tew years of one's career," he tells me over coffee in the board rcKim of the sleekly modem offices in Gibraltar Heights to which Hassans' litiga tion team expanded last year. "In fact it is a perfectly lite-long career — and justifiably so. Litigation is often more complex and challeng ing than many, if not most, other branches of law, with every day bringing something different to provide new interest and adven ture."

Litigation Is often more complex and challenging than many, if not most, other branches of law

when Hassans had just set up a dedicated litigation department the first local law firm to do so and Baglietto became part of the small three-man team under Dumas' direction.

"I cut my teeth on what was a

By the early 1990s,and as the liti gation department gradually ex panded, Baglietto had become heavily involved in maritime or Admiralty litigation, rapidly forg ing links with London and han dling a substantial number of Ad miralty Court cases and ship arrests — including that of the luxury yacht Flaiolcss which became"prob ably the longest Admiralty Court trial in Gibraltar since that of the Marie Celeste," he recalls.

He also started handling a string of major cases on behalf of the Gi braltar Government — including handling the groundwork on the Spanish pensions case(in which he appeared as junior counsel)— later

Lewis Baglictto, head ofthe litigation division ofinternational laxo firm Hassans acting for the Crown in a number of judicial reviews and other civil cases involving the Crown, so "gaining invaluable experience" as a junior to leading London silks and under his own steam in cases which lord-tenant disputes, to criminal cases and matrimonial cases and to a handful of admiralty matters," he explains."There was, for example, very little in the way of administra tion law work — that is a compara- have often ended up before the Courtof Appeal and even the Privy Counsel.

As part of the legal team ted by Michael Llamas, Baglietto also ap peared before the European Court of Human Rights in the Matthews "Eurovote" case.

"Taking over as administrator of the department is a new challenge and an extension of my responsi bilities to the team as a whole, for between us we cover every sphere of litigation in Gibraltar," he says.

And that sphere has expanded dramatically in the past20 years,he reckons.

"Before the border re-opened liti gation was largely confined to land- tively recent field of litigation. But the opening of the border and the establishment of the finance centre has added a massive international element to the department's work.

"Add to this the increasing im pact of EU laws on our domestic legislation — which,coupled with other factors, has led to more com plex and sophisticated litigation needing specialist attention — and there's a great deal to keep us on our toes."

The burgeoning of this workload and the expansion of a young team to handle it, prompted the move last year of the entire litigation de partment to the modern offices in Gibraltar Heights.