Suraj Sakal, Attorney-at-Law · Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

Prepared early. Finished early.

Matters worked up early, settled where they can be settled and pressed where they cannot.

Make an enquiry Areas of practice
01 / 03
Scroll
A hand setting out a matter on paper — making an enquiry

I have a matter now

Make an enquiry Leather-bound volumes in a glass-fronted bookcase, lamplight reflected in the glass

I need to know where I stand

Read the commentary A long meeting table and chairs in a bright, glass-walled room

I'm looking for a particular area

Areas of practice

Areas of practice

Different areas. One standard of preparation.

Each area handled by the same attorney from the first meeting to the final order.

Glass office towers against the sky — corporate and commercial law in Trinidad and Tobago Pacta sunt servanda Corporate and Commercial Law Agreements and transactions for businesses of every kind — companies, partnerships, sole traders, and the individuals who deal with them. Contracts drafted, reviewed and negotiated. Companies formed, bought, sold and combined. Read more A binder of compliance checklists open on a boardroom table, bound minute books and brass scales beside it — corporate compliance Vigilantibus non dormientibus jura subveniunt Corporate Compliance Keeping a company in good standing: annual returns and Registry filings, registers and minute books, meetings and resolutions, and the restoration of companies struck off for not filing. Anti-money-laundering compliance and training for the businesses and non-profits the law requires it of. Read more The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the final court of appeal for Trinidad and Tobago: a curved bench, Commonwealth flags along it, portraits above Interest reipublicae ut sit finis litium Civil Litigation How a civil dispute is run, from the first letter to the enforced judgment: pre-action correspondence, the claim and defence, case management, disclosure, witness statements, trial and appeal — for most kinds of dispute. Read more A figure of Lady Justice, her scales raised — judicial review and constitutional law in Trinidad and Tobago Audi alteram partem Constitutional and Administrative Law Challenging the State: judicial review of decisions by ministries, commissions, licensing and disciplinary bodies, and constitutional claims where a fundamental right has been breached — with the three-month clock that governs the first, and the different rules that govern the second. Read more An empty hospital corridor — personal injury and negligence claims in Trinidad and Tobago Ubi jus ibi remedium Personal Injury and Negligence Claims for injury caused by someone else's fault: road traffic accidents, injuries at work, falls on unsafe premises, negligent professionals and claims against public bodies — and the four-year limit that governs almost all of them. Read more A Last Will and Testament open on a desk, a gold pocket watch and estate papers beside it, a family photograph behind — wills and estates Nemo est haeres viventis Wills, Probate and Administration of Estates Wills drawn so they hold, and estates administered when someone has died: grants of probate and letters of administration from the Probate Registry, deeds of assent to pass land to the people entitled to it, resealing of grants made elsewhere in the Commonwealth, and the disputes that arise between beneficiaries. Read more Keys and a pen on a document, rolled house plans beside them and a lit house across the water — buying property and conveyancing Nemo dat quod non habet Conveyancing and Real Estate Buying, selling, giving and mortgaging land in Trinidad and Tobago, under both systems of title: agreements for sale, deeds of conveyance and gift, Certificates of Title, mortgages and releases, deeds of assent, and the disputes between landlords, tenants and neighbours that land produces. Read more A passport and papers on a dark desk — immigration law and work permits in Trinidad and Tobago Ius soli, ius sanguinis Immigration Law Work permits and the exemptions from them, permission to enter and remain and its extension, residence, citizenship and naturalisation, CARICOM skills certificates, and the defence of people facing a special inquiry or removal from Trinidad and Tobago. Read more The columns of a classical courthouse seen from below — criminal defence in Trinidad and Tobago Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit Criminal Law Defence from the moment of arrest: advice at the police station, bail, summary matters in the District Criminal and Traffic Court (the magistrates' court), indictable matters under the High Court procedure that replaced the preliminary enquiry, and appeals to the Court of Appeal and beyond. Read more A family standing together at sunset — family law in Trinidad and Tobago Consensus, non concubitus, facit matrimonium Family Law Divorce and separation, custody, access and maintenance, division of property, claims between unmarried partners, and protection orders — in the Family and Children Division of the High Court or the magistrates' court, and by agreement wherever agreement can be reached. Read more

Strategy

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

Sun Tzu

Position decided by preparation

  • Fix the objective. What you actually need from this — the money, the land, the order, or for it to end — is settled first, because every move after it is measured against it.
  • Know the ground. The documents, the forum, the other side and what they can afford, learned before the first letter is sent and not discovered at trial.
  • Set the pace. Every part of the case brought into play early and with purpose, so that the other side is answering you and not the reverse.
  • Fight where it matters. Not every point is worth contesting. The weight goes on the issue that decides the matter; the rest is conceded cheaply and early.
  • Know when to stop. A settlement from a strong position is a result. A trial pressed past the point of gain costs more than it can win.

The counsel

Told plainly. Handled quietly.

Suraj Sakal, Attorney-at-Law, in a pinstripe suit before a window onto a city lit at night Suraj Sakal, Attorney-at-Law, in gown and bands outside the Hall of Justice, Port of Spain, the building's name carved on the wall behind

Suraj Sakal practises in Port of Spain across ten areas, from civil litigation, company formation and conveyancing through to criminal defence and judicial review. He lectures at the University of the West Indies, handles corporate compliance, and acts as legal officer to the Caribbean Association of Judicial Officers.

The approach is strategic and quick off the mark: matters worked up early, settled where they can be settled and pressed where they cannot. You are told your real position at the start, kept informed without having to chase, and told what the work costs before it is spent.

About the practice

How a matter runs

Four stages. No surprises.

  1. First conversation

    You set out the problem. You leave knowing where you stand, what your options are, and what each one is likely to involve. That includes the option of doing nothing.

  2. Scope and fee, in writing

    Before any work begins you receive a written note of what will be done and what it will cost. A fixed fee where the work can be defined in advance. An hourly basis where it cannot, with an estimate and a warning before it is exceeded.

  3. Preparation

    Every document read, every witness spoken to, every fact tested before the other side does.

  4. Resolution

    By agreement where that serves you best. In court, fully prepared, where it does not.

Commentary

Short explanations of how the law actually works here. What happens to an estate when there is no will. What a company must file each year. What makes an agreement binding. Written for the person dealing with it, not for other attorneys.

All commentary
An open law report on a desk, a set of brass scales behind it, a stack of papers and a pen on a notebook beside it
A hall of shelved scrolls, several unrolled on a table in the foreground, a colonnade and the sea beyond

Publications

Longer work, written for legal readers. Where the commentary explains, these argue.

See publications

Begin

Tell me what has happened.

A few sentences is enough to know whether you have a matter and what it would take.

Make an enquiry