- When did you first get involved with the OBA?
I became a regular member of the OBA shortly after being called to the Ontario Bar. I believe my membership started in early 2021.
- What is your role on the OBA Business Law Section?
I am a Member-at-Large.
- What is/are your specific area(s) of practice?
My practice areas are business law and business immigration law.
- How long have you been practicing?
I was called to the Jamaican Bar in November 2011 and then called to the Ontario Bar in October 2020. I am currently still licensed to practice law in Jamaica, where I work on certain files remotely as a Consultant Attorney.
- What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
Currently, the most challenging aspect of my job is navigating the multi-dimensional role of being an owner-operator lawyer. It is not just simply dealing with the challenges of being a lawyer, but the difficult task of being an entrepreneur as well. This, of course, means that you wear many hats.
- What is the most interesting or fulfilling aspect of your job?
The most fulfilling aspect of my job is when you have closed a client file, and the client later reaches out to thank you for the work you have done. It satisfies a part of you that the financial reward alone cannot. In some of these matters, your legal services made life-changing impact.
- If you were not practicing in your current area of law, what other area(s) of law could you see yourself in and why?
Perhaps real estate and development law, because I have extensive experience in real estate and commercial development back in Jamaica. However, I do not practice in those areas here in Ontario.
- What are you excited for as an executive member of the OBA Business Law Section?
Being a part of a group that continues to help shape and cultivate the business legal landscape in Ontario. That includes contributing to various working and consultation groups, as well as providing priceless CPD programmes for our fellow OBA members.
- What is the one thing you would like to see the OBA Business Law Section do this year?
Perhaps an old-fashioned social or mixer, to allow us to interact and network outside of CPD programmes or meetings.
- Can you mention one exciting thing you have worked on recently?
I recently completed a Section 85 Rollover Transaction, in collaboration with a small CPA firm. It was extremely satisfying and exciting, especially since, as a small practitioner now, I no longer get to be a part of larger or very technical transactions anymore.
- Where did you go to law school?
I obtained my LLB from the University of London, thereafter I attended the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica, where I obtained my Legal Education Certificate. This is a requirement to be licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth Caribbean.
- What was the most helpful thing you learned in law school?
I would say client interviews was one of the most helpful things I learned. There was a legal aid clinic at the Norman Manley Law School, and everyone had to spend a full semester at the clinic. A lot of effort was put into interviewing clients in-person.
- What is the one piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you were still a student?
Ensure that doing law is really what you want to do, because eventually the financial reward fades, and sometimes so does the juvenile ideology of pursuing law for whatever passion-driven purpose you had in college. Therefore, in the end, you will need something more to keep you moving forward and getting up every day to face this thing called the practice of law.
- What is your go-to mental health wellness activity?
Travel! Just get up and go somewhere, anywhere. But if time and resources don’t permit, I go and get some self-care service done, like going to a spa or taking a walk by the water, if that is all I can do in the circumstances.
- What is your go-to coffee order?
Black ☺️!
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