Savitri St. John is a Partner in the Property Department.

She was born in Grenada, West Indies, was enrolled as member of the Grenada Bar in 1994, and was admitted to practice in Barbados in 1997 when she joined the firm of Clarke & Co. as an associate. Since then she has specialised in real estate law with particular interest in commercial real estate matters and was admitted to partnership in the merged firm of Clarke Gittens Farmer in 2003.

As a natural extension to her practice, Savitri has developed a strong command of banking and finance law and has worked extensively with commercial banks, insurance companies and other lending institutions as well as private developers and individuals. Apart from providing advice on title and security issues for residential and commercial loans, she has been responsible for the complete revision of several commercial banks’ and lending institutions’ security documentation and lending practices. She has also conducted many training seminars for lending and risk officers in order to help them understand and expedite the legal process of securing a loan with a high rate of recovery.

Over the course of two decades she has worked with lenders and developers on a wide range of capital projects from the very simple to multi-party cross border transactions including, hotel financing, commercial and residential real estate developments (whether by way of share or real estate sales and purchases), project finance, restructuring and timeshare. In doing so she has become highly experienced in drafting the documentation for condominium developments, timeshare and commercial leases and negotiating such deals. She has solved numerous title defects for pre-existing developments which have had occasion to cross her desk, and as a result has become an expert on such matters as rights of way, easements, covenants and town planning.

Savitri’s expertise is not limited to real estate matters, as she is a trusted advisor to several corporate conglomerates with multiple diverse interests and activities within local and regional markets, including manufacturing, construction, merchandising, insurance and tourism and tourism related activities.

Savitri is committed to continuing legal education and attends at least one professional development course per year. Among others, she has completed and been asked to coach the Advance Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop presented by the Stitt Feld Handy Group.

Savitri is dedicated to doing her part to raise the standard of the Bar in Barbados and to this end has sat on the Land Transfer Committee of the Barbados Bar Association and given seminars to the Barbados Bar on the topic of Conveyancing and Registration of Title. She has also tutored both current and aspiring real estate agents on real estate law for the Barbados Community College and for the Barbados Estate and Valuers Association.

Savitri has also been responsible for the training of the firm’s Property Department associates. Her energetic and pro-active approach to the practice of law and its advancement has led to the development of many talented young attorneys not only within the firm but also at the Barbados Bar as her counsel is regularly sought by her colleagues within the legal fraternity.

Prior to joining Clarke and Co. Savitri worked with the Grenada legal firm of Henry, Henry and Bristol practicing commercial and real estate law and was the secretary of the Grenada Bar Association. She was the recipient of the Pelham Sloane-Seale prize for conveyancing at the Hugh Wooding Law School.

Department

Property Department

Practice Areas

• Conveyancing
• Hotels, Resorts and Condominiums
• Secured Lending
• Residential, Commercial and Agricultural Leases
• Commercial and Residential Developments
• Asset Transfers
• Joint Ventures and Partnership Agreements

Memberships

The Barbados Bar Association
The Grenada Bar Association

Admissions

Grenada, 1994
Barbados, 1997

Education

LEC. – Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I. – 1994
LL.B. (Hons. – Upper Second Class Division) – University of West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, W.I. – 1992