Tribute: Vishwaka Peiris – Attorney at Law (1996 – 2024)

August 11, 2024 (LBO) - Gone to soon…

Life is a mystery which the mind can never truly comprehend. We try to explain the unexplainable through religion, spirituality, medicine, psychology or even philosophy. However, the reality is that life will always be beyond mere human understanding.

Such was the case in the demise of my Lawyer and friend Vishwaka Peiris. We will never know the true answer, so in my view it’s better to focus on an interesting and meaningful life. Vishwaka passed away at the tender age of 27, but in the decade I knew him he was exceptional.

I got to know Vishwaka by becoming a close friend of his father. This was even before the time he was studying law at Queen Mary University of London, and later called to the bar at Gray’s Inn and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. I remember going to his oaths taking ceremony in Sri Lanka at the ceremonial Supreme Court. I was invited because I was his friend, and also his client before he was even officially a lawyer. From that time and for several years thereafter, I always felt Vishwaka was way ahead of the curve. 

Vishwaka was from a young age working in the chambers of President’s Counsel Avindra Rodrigo.  I don’t know this for a fact, but I would bet that more often than not, he was the first one to arrive in chambers, and the last one to leave, after which he would take his briefs home and work late into the night. Even though he was only 27 when he passed, he had an extremely busy workload, working on some of the most important cases in Sri Lanka.

To me of course, the most important case he worked on was mine. As those who know me are aware, due to an 18 month tenure as an independent director on the board of a financial services company, I was caught in a political scandal and found myself in an enormous amount of legal trouble. From the early stages, Vishwaka found himself as the most junior member of my legal team. He was working in a voluntary capacity even before he had taken his oaths. My case was a high profile political firestorm, and Vishwaka’s start in the law was a baptism by fire.

From the get go the pressure was on, and the young lawyers appearing for me were running full speed. Meeting deadlines and getting the right documents from place to the place was the difference from me being a free man, or a guest of the remand prison. In this effort I know Vishwaka worked tirelessly to make sure that all bases were covered.

My litigation nightmare encompassed cases in the Fort Magistrate, the Colombo Chief Magistrate, Permanent High Court Trial at Bar, High Court Trials at Bar, Writs and appeals in the Court of Appeal, and even appeals to the Supreme Court. Vishwaka was in some way involved in all of these.

Vishwaka was an integral part of the team that shifted the balance in my litigation. In one of the most important rulings in Sri Lankan law, 3 Trials at Bar ruled that companies in Sri Lanka could not be charged under Sri Lanka’s Public Property Act. After intense research and drafting, Anil Silva PC with Hafeel Farisz, Sahan Kulatunga and Vishwaka Peiris made a brilliant and well researched argument that led to a landmark decision in our favour dismissing all public property charges.

I remember the consultations and arguments made in chambers while preparing for the public property argument. They were intense meetings where statutes, precedents, and even legislative intent were debated back and fourth. It was truly a brilliant bit of lawyering that I don’t think I have seen again. It was just one of those times where the stars aligned leading to top notch legal work.

When the judgement went in my favour, TV cameras caught me embracing my lawyers. I remember giving Vishwaka a tight hug of thanks, a spontaneous show of emotion rather unusual for a Sri Lankan courtroom.

Vishwaka’s career subsequently moved full speed ahead. He was no longer the young kid at the bottom of the legal food chain. He was a busy lawyer working on a multitude of important cases. In the week before his demise he was excitedly telling me about a heated argument he had in court against Sri Lanka’s most notable President’s Counsel, Romesh de Silva. Vishwaka was proud of his work, and enjoyed the law like few I have ever seen.

I studied law at Georgetown and was called to the Washington DC Bar. I went to school with some extraordinary lawyers. One of them is now the Governor of Pennsylvania and a serious contender to be a future President of the United States. I have learned from, and have competed against some of the best.

Vishwaka in the law was one of the best. Had he lived a long life he would have certainly been one of Sri Lanka’s most significant President’s Counsel. He was that good and his future was that bright.

Aside from the law, he had a wide circle of friends and colleagues, and an amazing family. His behaviour was always top class and I viewed him as a role model for my children. I admired his passion for the law, and viewed him so highly I asked him to be the godfather to my youngest son. He was so good with my kids and they had a unique fondness for him.

Although Vishwaka’s life was short, I have seen with my own eyes how it was so full of happiness and love. We joked, laughed, argued, and shared some of life’s most memorable moments. In his 27 years he was a true inspiration and support for me. His was an exemplary life.

From birth to death the soul is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. I am not enlightened enough to make sense of Vishwaka’s passing, but what I will do is admire him for a life well lived. 

Sleep well my counsel, my friend.