Jihan Williams gets called to the Bar
(Basseterre; St. Kitts): Family, friends and well wishers of Ms. Jihan Adika Williams of Bird Rock turned up at the Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore Judicial Complex on Friday 19th October 2007 to witness the admission of Ms. Williams to practice at the St Kitts Nevis Legal Bar.
Ms. Williams is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clement “Bouncin” Williams of Bird Rock and is a recent graduate of the Norman Manley Law School. She attended the Maurice Hillier Memorial Primary School and then went on to the Basseterre Junior and Basseterre Senior High School where she graduated with 9 O’ levels. While it was evident from a young age that Ms. Williams was something special, it was documented after she graduated from the Clarence Fitzroy Brant College in 2001 as the Federal State Scholar. Ms Williams went on in 2001 to pursue Management Studies with the UWI Distance Program in St Kitts before enrolling at Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies in 2002 to pursue her Bachelor of Laws degree. She successfully graduated with honours in 2005 and went on to attain a Legal Education Certificate in 2007 from the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica.
In her inaugural speech Ms. Williams said that she was not committed to “being a lawyer” but instead to “upholding and defending the law of the land and ethics of the profession, safeguarding the precepts of justice and the rule of law and ensuring as far as the law allows, that the public and private rights of individuals and entities are protected.” In giving the reason for her entry into law Williams stated that “law is the only profession that offers a platform to infiltrate all sectors of society since each sector and sub sector (1) has room for improvement and (2) is governed by law.”
~~Adz:Right~~
Ms Williams was presented by the Honourable Dennis Merchant Attorney General of St. Kitts Nevis and Mr. Tapley Seaton QC, former Attorney General of St Kitts and Nevis. Other members of the St. Kitts Nevis Bar including the Honorable Marcella Liburd (Speaker of the National Assembly), Ms. Elizabeth Kelsick of Kelsick Wilkin and Ferdinand Law Chambers and Ms. Angela Iniss of Inniss and Inniss Law Chambers spoke on the occasion of Ms. Williams’ call to the Bar pledging their support to her development and offering words of advice for Ms. Williams’ future practice. All spoke glowingly of Ms. Williams’ academic exploits as well as her ability to combine the academic accomplishment with community activism throughout her life. Ms. Williams was one of the founding members of the St Kitts Nevis Youth Parliament Association, the representative of St Kitts and Nevis at the UNESCO Youth Forum in France in 2001. She is also a 2007 recipient of a Liamigua Youth Legacy Award and in the process of forming a non profit organization focused on implementing programs, events and workshops geared towards educating, inspiring and empowering young people in St. Kitts.
Ms. Williams realizes that her journey has just begun as a lawyer but was at pains to point out during her response to the call that she would not have been able to complete her studies without help from Almighty God. She also praised her parents Clement and Cynthia Williams along with her other supportive family members and friends to whom she said the certificates and accomplishments belonged just as much as it did her.
