Leading Jamaican law firm Myers, Fletcher & Gordon (MFG) transitioned its leadership on July 1, 2021, when commercial attorney Peter Goldson completed his tenure as the firm’s managing partner and passed the baton to fellow partner and experienced litigator, Christopher Kelman.

Goldson, a Rhodes Scholar, has been practising law for over 28 years, advising local and overseas clients on commercial matters particularly on pensions, intellectual property and mergers and acquisitions.

Reflecting on the past seven years as managing partner he said, “I am most proud that not just prior to the pandemic but through it, we maintained our level of excellence, kept the prominence of MFG firmly in the public eye, and the firm was able to perform well”.

He continues in his practice areas as the firm’s senior partner.

At MFG, a managing partner is elected by his or her peers to lead the firm’s business. Interestingly, a managing partner may only serve in that capacity for one seven-year term and no longer.

Barbara Alexander, the firm’s first woman managing partner [2007 – 2014] and currently one of its consultants said, “the firm is extremely proud of its decades-old policy which mandates that managing partners serve in that capacity for one term only”. She added that the policy, now considered a good recipe for success, allows enough time for a managing partner to successfully pursue his or her vision and strategic objectives for the firm.

Kelman, the new managing partner, is a civil litigator with 25 years’ experience in complex commercial litigation, including public law, contractual disputes, medical malpractice, mining, pensions, higher education and maritime law and served as head of the firm’s litigation department for the past nine years.

He proudly emphasised that the firm, over 77 years, has built a solid reputation for excellence and innovation in the practice of law, locally and regionally. Referencing his new role, Kelman stated, “as members of the firm, we hold that reputation on trust for those who will come after us”. In signalling his readiness to serve as managing partner, he added, “every action I take during my tenure will be taken zealously not only to preserve our well-earned reputation, but to enhance it”.

The firm’s impressive list of former managing partners includes Douglas Fletcher (deceased), Frank Myers (deceased), Patrick Rousseau (deceased), Ivor Alexander, Maurice Robinson, Derek Jones, Stephen Shelton, and Norman Minott.