Are there any practitioners and lecturers who you have looked to for inspiration in your career path?
I have the greatest respect for Endell Thomas: Thomas v A. G. He wasn’ t a young man when he left the police service and decided to do law and be the centre of a large piece of litigation which resulted in a landmark case. I looked to him for inspiration. You will go to him about some trivial things and he will say‘ Young man you are not going to live long to have a grey beard like mine if you keep taking on things like that’. He was like a father figure in the law.
Your areas of expertise are civil litigation, banking, commercial and securities law, employment law, intellectual property law, estates, admiralty but what area of law would you say is of particular interest to you and why?
Well the law of contract and employment law are the areas in which I practise mainly. The great thing about teaching is that in your practice you research a point when it arises but may not return to that point for a while. When you are teaching in the area in which you practise it keeps you very current in the law. It gives you a lot more ideas on how to address a legal problem when you encounter it.
If not law, then …..?
I |
would |
be |
planting |
something |
|
somewhere, |
running |
a |
guesthouse, |
growing my own food and |
serving people. My love is |
land. |
Can you briefly describe |
the |
experience |
of |
managing |
your |
own |
chambers? |
What |
are |
your biggest challenges? |
The challenge is being alone in a sense. When you’ re in a firm there is a structure but when you start your own chambers you take on so much more. In a firm you have other support in terms of billing, collection of fees, and generally keeping your client happy. All of that falls on you when you are on your own.
You were awarded the |
most outstanding student |
award |
when |
you |
graduated |
from |
your |
class |
at |
the |
Hugh |
Wooding Law School. Do |
you have any advice to students who would like to accomplish this feat?
I think the award is given to students who are not only involved in academics but involved in other things. As a lawyer the skill that you’ re trying to market is problem solving. Those are skills developed from being involved in activities other than academics. Law must never be this thing that cages you and you become this thing that is a lawyer and not a person. Aim for that and not necessarily the award.
Do you have any final advice to convey to the readers of the UWI St Augustine Law Society magazine?
It’ s an exciting time! It’ s going to get better and better. It’ s exciting to be a part of something that is evolving and growing. This is an opportunity for you to distinguish your faculty because it is now a faculty of law standing on its own in St. Augustine. Seize the opportunity to do courses in other faculties! University experience is a special thing; interacting with a large student population is a great experience!
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