David P. Rowe
Encyclopedia
David P. Rowe is a Jamaican-American lawyer, professor, media commentator and pioneer in the area of transnational law. He has spent most of his career as a litigator in Florida
, along with serving as a professor at the University of Miami School of Law since 1989. He is one of the world's leading voices on the law of the Caribbean Commonwealth, and his scholarly work and quotations have appeared in periodicals around the world.
, Q.C., O.J., viewed by many as the leading Jamaican jurist
of the 20th century, and the president of the Courts of Appeal of Jamaica and Belize, along with a member of the Court of Appeal of Belize and of the Bahamas. Rowe's mother, Audrey Stewart, was a sister tutor at the Nursing School of the University of the West Indies
. Rowe attended the Wolmer's School in Kingston
(established 1729), where he was awarded the Sydney McDonald Award upon graduation.
. He received his L.L.B. from the University of the West Indies
at Cave Hill
, Barbados
, in 1980, and received his Juris Doctor
from the University of Miami School of Law
in 1982. He was also a Rhodes Scholarship
finalist for Jamaica
in 1980 and 1981.
. He began his career as an associate at the law firm Greenberg Traurig
in Miami, from 1982 to 1984, until he was hired by Holland & Knight
. At Greenberg, he worked with former U.S. Ambassador Ambler Moss and Reubin Askew. Rowe worked for Holland & Knight from 1984 to 1990, becoming a capital partner in 1988. At Holland, he worked with Chesterfield Smith
, the former president of the American Bar Association, and Bill McBride. In 1991, he opened the law firm of David Rowe, P.A. Rowe has had success in federal and state court. He obtained acquittals in notable federal cases such as United States v. Joel Powell and United States v. Hargitay, along with state cases such as State of Florida v. Lucille Sapp and State of Florida v. Sean Perry. Rowe's expertise has seen him called as a witness to testify on the country conditions in Jamaica in several political asylum cases. He was the first Chairman of the American Bar Association
Caribbean Law Committee. He testified as an Expert
in United States federal practice in the case of Dabdoub v. Vaz, the historic dual-citizenship case in the Jamaica Supreme Court.
In 2011 Rowe represented Jamaican Entertainer Moses Davis (Beenie Man) after Davis' visa was canceled by the United States Consulate in Jamaica. The visa was restored and Beenie Man issued a press release thanking Rowe on July 27, 2011
, having taught at the Law School since 1989. In 2010, the school announced it would be adding a second Caribbean Law course, taught by Rowe, Caribbean Law II, which would focus on articles for publication in the University's new Caribbean Law Yearbook, co-founded by Rowe. Rowe coordinated the school's annual Marcus Garvey Seminar from 1999–2004, which commented on the teachings of Marcus Garvey
and his legal and political philosophy.
extradition
crisis that began in the fall of 2009. During the crisis, he was a leading speaker on the issue, with his commentary appearing in news outlets such as the BBC
, Radio Russia and Time Magazine. He also convened a symposium, the Caribbean Law Yearbook Conference, in November 2010, that was the first formal academic discussion of the events of the crisis. Rowe is a strong political supporter of the viability of the Westminster constitutional model, which prevails in Caribbean constitutions of the English-speaking West Indies. He is a vocal advocate of significant United States economic support and diplomatic influence in the Caribbean region. Rowe endorsed the literal interpretation of treaty text during the crisis: he said the country should adhere to its obligations under the bilateral extradition treaty.
In September 2011, he wrote an op-ed in the Caribbean Journal about Coke's guilty plea in US Federal Court in New York. Many observers partially attribute the resignation of Prime Minister Bruce Golding to Rowe's specific incisive and investigative criticism on Jamaica radio of the political scandals in Golding's troubled 4 year administration.
Professor Rowe's characterization of the Golding Administration in Jamaica as a 'narco-democracy' which bought media silence and support in Jamaica from corrupt journalists was widely distributed on the internet through his monograph written for the Caribbean Journal entitled ' In The Belly Of The Beast'.
for Jamaica. While serving as Secretary to the Caribbean Research Development Foundation, Rowe, under the guidance of Sir Philip Sherlock, arranged for different Caribbean
leaders to speak in Miami in the 1980s, including the Rt. Hon. Edward Seaga
, Hon. Cheddi Jagan
of Guyana
, the Rt. Hon. P.J. Patterson of Jamaica
and Sir Lynden Pindling
of the Bahamas.
, the first journal in the United States focusing entirely on the law of the Commonwealth
Caribbean
, which will be published in the spring of 2011. It was the subject of the 2010 Caribbean Law Yearbook Conference, which was aired on Jamaican television, and was addressed by the Hon. Peter Phillips, former Minister of National Security of Jamaica
.
Fundamentally influenced by the writings of Professor Ralph Carnegie, Lord Diplock and his father Ira D. Rowe, David Rowe has theorized in several articles that the retention of the Westminster Model Constitution is essential to peace and stability in the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, along with serving as a professor at the University of Miami School of Law since 1989. He is one of the world's leading voices on the law of the Caribbean Commonwealth, and his scholarly work and quotations have appeared in periodicals around the world.
Early life
Rowe was born to Ira DeCordova RoweIra DeCordova Rowe
The Hon. Ira De Cordova Rowe, Q.C., O.J. was one of the jurists of the Commonwealth Caribbean. His decisions on Jamaican, Belizan and Bahamian Constitution Law created a new Commonwealth jurisprudence based on the Westminster Model with a strong reliance on the wording of the new Commonwealth...
, Q.C., O.J., viewed by many as the leading Jamaican jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
of the 20th century, and the president of the Courts of Appeal of Jamaica and Belize, along with a member of the Court of Appeal of Belize and of the Bahamas. Rowe's mother, Audrey Stewart, was a sister tutor at the Nursing School of the University of the West Indies
University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
. Rowe attended the Wolmer's School in Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
(established 1729), where he was awarded the Sydney McDonald Award upon graduation.
Education
In 1977, Rowe received the Exhibition Scholarship of Law from the University of the West IndiesUniversity of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
. He received his L.L.B. from the University of the West Indies
University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
at Cave Hill
Cave Hill
-Barbados:* Cave Hill can refer to two areas, located on the island-nation of Barbados. For one of the main campuses of the University of the West Indies located at Cave Hill, St. Michael see below.The Cave Hill are in Barbados can refer to:...
, Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, in 1980, and received his Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from the University of Miami School of Law
University of Miami School of Law
The University of Miami School of Law, founded in 1926, is the law school of the University of Miami, located in Coral Gables, Florida, in the United States. The school graduated its first class of 13 students in 1929.- Academics :...
in 1982. He was also a Rhodes Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
finalist for Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in 1980 and 1981.
Career
Rowe is a member of the Florida Bar and the Jamaica BarJamaica Bar
The Jamaican Bar Association is a voluntary organisation of attorneys-at-law called to the Jamaican Bar. It was formed on January 16, 1973. The association is not a regulatory or disciplinary body and has no power to hear complaints against attorneys, even if they are members of the association.It...
. He began his career as an associate at the law firm Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig LLP and Greenberg Traurig PA is an international law firm based in Miami, Florida.The firm has approximately 1,800 attorneys and governmental professionals in 32 locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Its founding office is in Miami, Florida with its largest office in...
in Miami, from 1982 to 1984, until he was hired by Holland & Knight
Holland & Knight
Holland & Knight is an international law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers in 17 U.S. offices. Other offices around the world are located in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Beijing, China, and Mexico City, Mexico. Holland & Knight provides representation in litigation, business, real estate and governmental law.-...
. At Greenberg, he worked with former U.S. Ambassador Ambler Moss and Reubin Askew. Rowe worked for Holland & Knight from 1984 to 1990, becoming a capital partner in 1988. At Holland, he worked with Chesterfield Smith
Chesterfield Smith
Chesterfield Smith was an American lawyer. He founded the law firm Holland & Knight and served as president of the American Bar Association in 1973-1974, during the Watergate scandal.-Early life and education:...
, the former president of the American Bar Association, and Bill McBride. In 1991, he opened the law firm of David Rowe, P.A. Rowe has had success in federal and state court. He obtained acquittals in notable federal cases such as United States v. Joel Powell and United States v. Hargitay, along with state cases such as State of Florida v. Lucille Sapp and State of Florida v. Sean Perry. Rowe's expertise has seen him called as a witness to testify on the country conditions in Jamaica in several political asylum cases. He was the first Chairman of the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
Caribbean Law Committee. He testified as an Expert
Expert witness
An expert witness, professional witness or judicial expert is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have expertise and specialised knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially and legally...
in United States federal practice in the case of Dabdoub v. Vaz, the historic dual-citizenship case in the Jamaica Supreme Court.
In 2011 Rowe represented Jamaican Entertainer Moses Davis (Beenie Man) after Davis' visa was canceled by the United States Consulate in Jamaica. The visa was restored and Beenie Man issued a press release thanking Rowe on July 27, 2011
University of Miami School of Law
Rowe is a professor at the University of Miami School of LawUniversity of Miami School of Law
The University of Miami School of Law, founded in 1926, is the law school of the University of Miami, located in Coral Gables, Florida, in the United States. The school graduated its first class of 13 students in 1929.- Academics :...
, having taught at the Law School since 1989. In 2010, the school announced it would be adding a second Caribbean Law course, taught by Rowe, Caribbean Law II, which would focus on articles for publication in the University's new Caribbean Law Yearbook, co-founded by Rowe. Rowe coordinated the school's annual Marcus Garvey Seminar from 1999–2004, which commented on the teachings of Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
and his legal and political philosophy.
U.S.-Jamaica Extradition Crisis
Rowe was one of the most outspoken advocates of the United States' stance in the Christopher CokeChristopher Coke
Michael Christopher Coke , also known as Dudus, is a Jamaican drug lord and the leader of the Shower Posse gang. He is the son of drug lord Lester Lloyd Coke...
extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
crisis that began in the fall of 2009. During the crisis, he was a leading speaker on the issue, with his commentary appearing in news outlets such as the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Radio Russia and Time Magazine. He also convened a symposium, the Caribbean Law Yearbook Conference, in November 2010, that was the first formal academic discussion of the events of the crisis. Rowe is a strong political supporter of the viability of the Westminster constitutional model, which prevails in Caribbean constitutions of the English-speaking West Indies. He is a vocal advocate of significant United States economic support and diplomatic influence in the Caribbean region. Rowe endorsed the literal interpretation of treaty text during the crisis: he said the country should adhere to its obligations under the bilateral extradition treaty.
In September 2011, he wrote an op-ed in the Caribbean Journal about Coke's guilty plea in US Federal Court in New York. Many observers partially attribute the resignation of Prime Minister Bruce Golding to Rowe's specific incisive and investigative criticism on Jamaica radio of the political scandals in Golding's troubled 4 year administration.
Professor Rowe's characterization of the Golding Administration in Jamaica as a 'narco-democracy' which bought media silence and support in Jamaica from corrupt journalists was widely distributed on the internet through his monograph written for the Caribbean Journal entitled ' In The Belly Of The Beast'.
Transnational Dialogue
From 1984-1990, Rowe was the Registered Foreign AgentForeign Agents Registration Act
The Foreign Agents Registration Act is a United States law passed in 1938 requiring that agents representing the interests of foreign powers be properly identified to the American public. The act was passed in response to German propaganda in the lead-up to World War II...
for Jamaica. While serving as Secretary to the Caribbean Research Development Foundation, Rowe, under the guidance of Sir Philip Sherlock, arranged for different Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
leaders to speak in Miami in the 1980s, including the Rt. Hon. Edward Seaga
Edward Seaga
Edward Philip George Seaga ON PC was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1980 to 1989 and Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005. He served as leader of the opposition from 1974 to 1980 and again from 1989 until January 2005...
, Hon. Cheddi Jagan
Cheddi Jagan
Cheddi Berret Jagan was a Guyanese politician who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964, prior to independence. He later served as President of Guyana from 1992 to 1997.- Biography :The son of ethnic Indian sugar plantation workers, Jagan...
of Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, the Rt. Hon. P.J. Patterson of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and Sir Lynden Pindling
Lynden Pindling
Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling KCMG, OM, JP , is generally regarded as the "Father of the Nation" of the Bahamas, having led it to Majority Rule on 10 January 1967 and then to independence on 10 July 1973. He served as the first black premier of the Colony of the Bahama Islands from 1967 to 1969 and as...
of the Bahamas.
Caribbean Law Yearbook
Rowe, along with Alexander Britell, founded the Caribbean Law Yearbook at the University of Miami School of LawUniversity of Miami School of Law
The University of Miami School of Law, founded in 1926, is the law school of the University of Miami, located in Coral Gables, Florida, in the United States. The school graduated its first class of 13 students in 1929.- Academics :...
, the first journal in the United States focusing entirely on the law of the Commonwealth
Commonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, which will be published in the spring of 2011. It was the subject of the 2010 Caribbean Law Yearbook Conference, which was aired on Jamaican television, and was addressed by the Hon. Peter Phillips, former Minister of National Security of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
.
Publications
In addition to his legal and political commentary, his work has been published in news outlets and journals, including "Debt Equity Reduction" in the International Law Yearbook and "The Abandonment Doctrine or Is Your Green Card Safe?" in the Jamaica Gleaner. He also has a regular column in the Jamaica Sunday Herald, and authored the article "Trial By Jury: Is Trial by Jury protected in the Jamaican Constitution."Fundamentally influenced by the writings of Professor Ralph Carnegie, Lord Diplock and his father Ira D. Rowe, David Rowe has theorized in several articles that the retention of the Westminster Model Constitution is essential to peace and stability in the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Books
Rowe is the author of "Ira Rowe: Caribbean Lawyer," which examines the life and career of his father from his beginnings as a Clerk of the Court to his rise to the presidency of the Court of Appeal of Belize and of Jamaica. It also takes the memories of those who knew him, including the Queen of England, who personally expressed her condolences upon his death through her Chief Clerk, Gill Middleburgh. In 2009 he published a short novella of Jamaican life called "School Days."External links
- http://www.constitution-and-rights.com
- http://www.youtube.com/user/CaribbeanLawTV