Michael Munroe, Kalesh Loakman, and Javed Shadick, three recent graduates of the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS), on Monday became Guyana’s newest attorneys-at-law after being admitted to the local bar.
Munroe’s petition was brought by Ronald Burch-Smith, who appeared in association with Mark Waldron. The petition was heard by Chief Justice Roxane George in a courtroom packed with Munroe’s family and friends.
Munroe’s admission began promptly at 1.30 pm, which Justice George said was done deliberately to demonstrate to him the importance of punctuality in light of recent slippages. She also urged him to always have respect for the court, colleagues, and clients, and also to always be courteous.
The judge explained to him that as a junior attorney-at-law, the court will “cut him some slack”, and even as a senior attorney-at-law, given that he is only human. However, Justice George told Munroe that the latitude given and respect shown to him by the court will depend on his reputation, and cautioned him to take great care in the reputation he cultivated.
Justice George also said that she expects that Munroe, who served as Vice-President of the University of Guyana Law Society (UGLS), Con-stitutional Committee Chair-person of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) of the Student Society at HWLS, and Entertainment Chairperson of the Guyanese Students Committee of the HWLS, will eventually become a member of
the Guyana Bar Association, and serve in such capacities regionally, and internationally.
In his response to Justice George, Munroe, who won several prizes this year, including the prizes for best Guyanese student and best academic and extra-curricular performance, said that while he was not very serious about his work when he started his legal education at the University of Guyana, he quickly changed his approach after it earned him Bs and Cs, while his colleagues attained As and B+s. He also credits his study group with influencing his turnaround.
Munroe, who was awarded two prizes while in his first year of HWLS for the best performance in Legal Drafting and Interpretation and plans to pursue a Masters in Legislative Drafting at the University of Ottawa, told Stabroek News that the economic development which will follow recent oil discoveries in Guyana will necessarily have to be facilitated by the drafting of new, and amendment of old contracts, bills, regulations, bylaws and other forms of law, and expressed an intention to be part of that process.
Meanwhile, Loakman’s petition was brought by attorney Kashir Khan, who appeared in association with attorneys Mohamed Khan, Imtiaz Baig, and Joshua Abdool. Loakman’s petition was heard by Justice Brassington Reynolds, who urged Loakman to remain humble, grounded, and objective.
Justice Reynolds told the young attorney-at-law that he enters the profession at a time when Guyana’s constitution is under siege, and when attorneys-at-law are prepared to do a lot of improper things. Loakman was cautioned against following suit.
Loakman, a former Secretary of the UGLS and Publications Committee Chairperson of the SRC, told Justice Reynolds that he was at the beginning of his legal education, and vowed to do his best.
As Loakman spoke, his mother, who sat not three feet from him, struggled to hold back tears.
Additionally, Shadick’s petition, brought by Member of Parliament Bibi Shadick, was heard by Justice Navindra Singh.
