Newsday
By David Coltart
1 July 2015
I have been privileged to know Joseph James, or as we would affectionately call him, Jumbo, for over 30 years and am deeply saddened by his passing away on Sunday.
When I first came across him as an opponent in court he had a considerable advantage over me, having had more legal experience than me.
He was always a tough, feisty lawyer, but what struck me in those first encounters was that he had a keen sense of justice and a gentle spirit. As hard as he would fight a case he would always respect the need for balance, truth and fairness. Although I was junior to him, he would always treat me with unfailing courtesy — something I know all respected in him.
Zimbabwe has lost a legal giant — not necessarily because he reached the soaring heights of legal academia or eloquence, but because of his innate sense of what was right and wrong, and his courage, in a quiet and determined way, to redress injustice in our society.
His commitment to the rule of law was all-consuming; he was a passionate lawyer, a lawyer’s lawyer, who devoted his entire professional life to upholding the finest traditions and standards of the law profession in Zimbabwe.
His own firm was run to the highest ethical standards and in all my experience of him, his word was truly his bond. He was utterly devoted to the profession, demonstrated in his election as President of the Law Society, which he served so well. But he was also a lawyer who understood that there could be no justice if marginalised, poor people did not have fair access to the legal system.
In that regard he was one of the first to volunteer his time for the Legal Aid Clinic set up in 1983, and was one of the most devoted supporters of its successor the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre (BLBC).