Federation welcomes new batch of young lawyers

By Melissa Bryant
Reporter~SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE local legal fraternity has recently been strengthened with the admittance of four young lawyers to the St. Kitts and Nevis Bar.

The four new Barristers-at-Law are Shamara Morton, Teshari John, Jonel Powell and Ermelin Sebastian. The Barristers all studied Law at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and graduated with honours. And while Morton and

Sebastian subsequently went to the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad gain their Legal Certificate in Education, John and Powell chose the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica to earn theirs.

John attributed her choice of Law as a career to a sixth form teacher who infused the subject with excitement, while Powell credited his involvement in the field to family tradition and a genuine interest in the law.

Sebastian stated that the law had fascinated her since she was a child, but, contrastingly, Morton revealed that she struggled to make a decision, vacillating among teaching, medical research, journalism and interpretation before realising that Law could encompass all those professions.

The young lawyers were involved in a myriad of extracurricular activities while pursuing higher education. They were all members of the St. Kitts-Nevis Student Association and the Law Society while at UWI.

Both Powell and Morton played on football teams, and John was on the Yearbook Committee while Sebastian was a Block Representative on the Hall Council.

At Hugh Wooding, Morton and Sebastian were part of a three-woman team that won the Hamel-Smith Appellate Mooting Competition, while Powell was President of the Norman Manley Law Students Association and John participated in the Jamaican National Street Children Initiative.

Sebastian, who is also a Law tutor at the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College, is currently employed as an Associate General Counsel at the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank and hopes to continue growing in and learning about the legal profession.

Powell is an Associate at Webster-Dyrud-Mitchell Law Firm in Anguilla and notes that he consciously took a job in Corporate Law because he is interested in the growing financial services sector. He anticipates that in 10 years he would have branched out into other business and entrepreneurial ventures.

Although she is currently an Associate at Tapley Seaton and Associates and deals with corporate and commercial areas, John revealed that she is particularly intrigued by the human side of the law which includes areas such as family matters and personal injury.

She plans to stay involved with the law for a while, as she thinks that there is so much to learn from being a lawyer.
Morton stated that her dream is to pursue a career in International Law, and though she currrently works in the corporate field as an Associate at Harneys Law Firm in Tortola, she plans to eventually go down that path.

Justice Francis Belle addressed each individual at their respective swearing-in ceremonies and encouraged them to “practice the law with integrity, dedication and honesty”.