St. Augustine Legal Affairs (STALA) Issue 1 | Page 11

I did my LLB at this University. When I graduated I went straight into the Hugh Wooding Law School and did one year. I then interrupted my studies to do a master’ s degree at King’ s College, London. I returned to Hugh Wooding to complete my final year. After law school, Kenny Anthony, Prime Minister of St. Lucia( who was the head of teaching at the time) recruited me to come and work for the University. My father also asked me to come and work for Alexander Jeremy as a consultant. I therefore had one foot in academia and one foot in private practice right out of law school. That persisted for about 5 or 6 years. I then left to go with Samantha Ramsaran and Nura Ali

to St. Katherine’ s College in Oxford University in 1995 where I worked as a tutor. I began to do a Ph. D. in Insolvency Law and I spent just about one year there before my father got cancer. I dropped everything and returned to the West Indies at that point and I’ ve been here since then.

What was your biggest challenge as a student and how did you overcome it?

This was when I had to take a year off of school for medical reasons. It was a terrible year. After being stabilized by my doctors my cousin got me involved in scuba diving at the Scuba Diving Club at UWI. I have a lot to thank this institution for.

How has your international experience impacted on you and your career?

It’ s no different really. The discipline and tools which you gain at the University of the West Indies are exactly those that you would use in any of the universities. We owe this to our academic giants like Professor Patchett and Tony Bland who were themselves British and associated with the Oxford University. We’ ve had Professor Devise for years as an external examiner. We’ ve thus had a significant measure of quality control by virtue of our linkage with the English Universities.

Do you think the St. Augustine Attorneys of 2015 will be any different than those who went to Cave Hill?

The main difference is not going to be a difference in terms of the quality and ability of the individual but in terms of their world view and their perspective.

What is your biggest pet peeve as a lecturer?

I think I am pretty eventempered so nothing really bothers me at this age.

Are there any practitioners or lecturers who you’ ve looked up to for inspiration?

Good question. They’ re all dead. My father, ofcourse. There are also people like Michael De La Bastide who is no longer in practice, Hudson Philips whose practice is a lot less now than it was before;

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