FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE COURTROOM
FORMER TEACHER GETS CALLED TO THE BAR
On Friday, November 14, 2014 Ms. Gillian André became the newest member of the Legal Profession in this Jurisdiction. She was a teacher at the Gingerland Secondary School, head of the History Department and decided to make Law her second career. In reply to the application to the Court for admission to the Bar this is what she said:
“It was the fruition of a dream that I held for a very long time, the culmination of years of putting off and putting others before myself. There were times along the journey when I was fraught with doubt, whether it was doubt about my ability, or doubt as to whether law was the right choice for me but each time I expressed that feeling, the support of my family and friends, especially my son Alan, gave me the strength to push on.
After losing my Mother in 2007, I decided to make that dream a reality as it was also a dream of hers and when I retired from teaching in 2010, it was with a bittersweet feeling that I also completed my LLB degree with the University of London distance learning programme. In realizing my dream, despite the obstacles, I have triumphed. The work ethic that I developed throughout my teaching career, I know will put me in good stead for the work ethic of legal practice and I am ready, willing and able to embrace it. I will endeavour to live up to every obligation imposed upon me by the Code of Ethics found in the Legal Profession Act of St.Kitts and Nevis.
I thank Mr. Jeffrey Nisbett for accepting the invitation to move my call and Mr. Larkland Richards for rising to support my application. I thank God for my dearly departed Mother who not only insisted on my following my dream but also instilled in me the will to persevere. Her insistence that I always speak and write “the Queens English” has paid off as I received an award from the Norman Manley Law School for excellence in Court Reporting over the two years that I was a student there.
As I launch into a new and challenging career, I am humbled by the support of the public in general and I look forward to serving the public with dignity and to the best of my ability.