Clarence Antony Nigel Hughes

Mr. C.A. Nigel Hughes is a Partner in the law firm Hughes Fields & Stoby and the Chairman of H F S Corporate Services Inc.

After graduating with honours in his first degree (L.L.B.) and a Masters in law ( L.L.M ) at University College, London University in 1986, Mr. C.A. Nigel Hughes attended the Council of Legal Education (C.L. E ) in London in 1987 from which institution he graduated.

Mr. Hughes was then called to the Bar in London as a member of the Inner Temple on the 24th day of November 1997.

Mr. Hughes was thereafter attached to the commercial chambers at 3 Essex Court, Middle Temple, London and subsequently at 1 Pump Court, London.

In April 1998 he returned to Guyana where he joined the firm of Hughes Fields & Stoby. After his arrival at the firm Mr. Hughes was appointed head of the firm’s IT department and was responsible for the considerable modernization of the firm. The firm is now an international law firm with a significant percentage of its work originating from off shore jurisdictions.

Mr. Hughes has been involved in several significant developments in the field of advocacy and legal practice in Guyana. He has developed considerable expertise in the areas of banking, commercial law, insurance, intellectual property, telecommunications Law, Public Utilities, mining, oil and gas, international finance, project finance and mergers and acquisitions.

Chambers and Partners, an independent international market research firm based in London and publishers of Chambers Global, “ The World’s Leading Lawyers”, ranked Mr. Hughes as one of the top five lawyers in Guyana.

After he was elected Vice President of the Guyana Bar Association in 1999 Mr. Hughes initiated and managed the annual conferences of the Guyana Bar Association in which several International presenters attend. The forum is now the leading law conference in the country.

In 2002 Mr. Hughes was elected to the Presidency of the Guyana Bar Association and in that capacity was instrumental in convening the Social Partners Initiative which comprised the Guyana Bar Association, the Private Sector Commission and the Trades Union Congress. This initiative was established after the traditional means of engagement between the two major political parties had become significantly challenged and country embarked a period of increased social degradation.

Also in his capacity as President of the Guyana Bar Association Mr. Hughes established a special committee of the Guyana Bar Association to assist the Chief Justice in the reduction of backlog of cases. The committees successfully reviewed and advised the Honourable Chief Justice on the status of at least two thousand cases which were subsequently brought up for consideration and disposed of by Judges of the High Court of the Supreme Court of Judicature

During the year 2003 Mr. Hughes was invited by the Chancellor of the Judiciary to sit on the Rules Committee which was established to examine the proposed new rules of the High Court of the Supreme Court.

In 2003 Mr. Hughes was invited to sit and did sit upon a Criminal law Review Committee headed by Senior Counsel Rex Mc kay. The Committee was tasked with the responsibility of reviewing the criminal law and procedures in Guyana. The Committee concluded its deliberations in 2004 and submitted its report to the Honourable Chancellor

Mr. Hughes was retained by the Inter American Development Bank (IADB) as a consultant on civil society in 2003.

In this capacity he developed the Civil Society action plan for the Bank’s Civil Society Advisory Board.

Mr. Hughes has attended an IADB meeting on Civil Society participation in Government in Peru.

In 2004 Mr. Hughes was lead Counsel in commercial litigation for an independent cellular operator which heralded the removal of the monopoly in cellular telecommunications in Guyana. Mr. Hughes thereafter participated in and was an integral part of the negotiations for the sale of the independent cellular company to Digicel.

In 2005 Mr. Hughes was legal advisor to the successful bidder in one the Caribbean’s largest mergers and acquisitions. The take over and acquisition of COURTS ( UK) Ltd in the Caribbean.

In 2006 Mr. Hughes was member of the Chief Justice’s select Committee which was tasked with the responsibility of establishing new rules for the Commercial Court.

The Rules are now an integral part of the new Commercial Court.

In 2006 Mr. Hughes was the lead counsel in the first successfully litigated criminal appeal in Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). (Vaughn Thomas v The State).

In 2007 Mr. Hughes was appointed a lecturer for the University of the West Indies Executive Masters in Business Administration Programme.
He has lectured in Belize, Tortola and Guyana as part of the post graduate programme.

Mr. Hughes is a member of the International Bar Association, International Trade Mark Association, State Capital Global Law firm Group and the World Services Group.

Mr. Hughes is also the personal advisor to the British High Commissioner in Guyana.

Mr. Hughes is a member of the Board of Governors of St Stanislaus College in Georgetown, Guyana and the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity Guyana Inc.

Practice areas:
Commercial Law.

General and marine insurance.

Intellectual property.

Telecommunications law.

Mergers and acquisitions.

International business.

Commercial litigation.

Mining law.

Off shore investments.

International law.

Criminal litigation.

Joint ventures.

Administrative law.

Energy law.

Public Utilities.

Aviation.

Tax.