Following the footsteps of mom and dad
Attorney-at-law, Kevin Williams displays his certificate
Attorney-at-law, Kevin Williams displays his certificate

…Kevin Williams finds calling in law

By Tamica Garnett
AS the saying goes, “the apple doesn’t far from the tree”, so it came as no surprise to Kevin Williams that he eventually developed a natural affinity to becoming a lawyer, notwithstanding that it was not exactly his goal career growing up.

The son of two accomplished legal minds – Guyana’s Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, and High Court Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Justice Lorraine Williams – Kevin was recently accepted to the bar in Ontario, Canada; culminating years of hard work and challenges that he overcame. “It was a humbling experience,” shared the 32-year-old in a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle. “It is a great honour and a blessing that will forever be in my mind. The novelty has not worn off yet, I replay it several times daily. I just praise and thank God for allowing me to see the fruits of my labour.”

Though it was not a future he envisioned for himself as a child, his parents were always expectant that he would have followed in their footsteps. But now a practicing lawyer, he believes he inherited it from his parents. “They will tell anyone, it was always my destiny. It’s in the bloodline,” Kevin jokes. “In secondary school my focus was the sciences – Chemistry, Physics and Biology. I was exploring the idea of becoming a doctor. After moving to Canada, I took the first year of my undergrad studies to really decide what I wanted to do and my process led me to law. I firmly believe it is a blood-line thing though, and eventually I could not run from it.”

It was after moving to Canada and going through a period of self-realisation, that his mental footsteps led him to law. “The defining moment was in April 2005 after the first school year…it was a challenging one dealing with a new system, the bitter cold and snow and also missing the Caribbean. “I decided I needed a new start. I always excelled at the Arts and enjoyed paper writing and public speaking. I decided to go for it and here we are today,” Kevin Williams said.

Kevin Williams (centre) with his parents, Attorney General, Basil Williams and Justice Lorraine Williams

It was in 2015 that he began studying for his Juris Doctor (JD) at the University of Ottawa, and completed his studies last year. This comes after he did his Masters in International Affairs from 2009 – 2012 at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. His journey to his legal career began in 2004 when he commenced studying for his BA Law and Political Science, minor in Spanish, also at Carleton University; he completed the programme in 2009.
Kevin acknowledges the support from his parents, saying because of them being there his journey was not as difficult as it could have been, but that by no means meant it was a smooth one. “By the grace of God, hard work and support from my parents, family, pastors and friends, it became a reality, a dream realised,” he says. “Like with any goal or dream, there were several challenges including meeting simultaneous deadlines, staying motivated, reading and researching the law to remain competent as well as maintain your reputation. These challenges were managed and overcome because of the collaborative and team-oriented environment of my office. My articling principal has an open door policy and we all supported each other in whatever area of the practice we are working on. No one is ever left alone. We emphasise collegiality and open communication.”

Kevin is now an Associate Lawyer with the Law Office of Odette Rwigamba in Ottawa Canada, practicing in the areas of family, immigration, wills, real estate and personal injury (civil litigation plaintiff).

He recalls his days growing up as the child of lawyers. “I remember them always being busy preparing for court. The many hours of reading cases and creating correspondence and documents. Also, them discussing the theory of their case with me to solicit my opinion,” Kevin reminisced.

He has spent most of his life in Canada having moved there in 2004 to live with his mother, who was appointed the OECS High Commissioner to Canada from 2003. However, with a St Lucian mother and a Guyanese father, his groundings are in a Caribbean lifestyle. Kevin considers himself blessed to have his multicultural upbringing. “I am blessed and thankful to God for ordering my life like this,” is how he describes it, adding that, “I was born into it. I definitely did not choose it. It was all in His plan and purpose for my life. It has shaped and influenced me greatly from my values, decorum, opinions and perspectives. It has instilled in me empathy for various groups of people. I am able to connect and build relationships with people of any background. It has instilled in me a passion for people and making genuine relationships.” It’s a character trait he’s particularly proud of. “It’s a unique mixture. One of the best compliments that I have received concerning this is that I am able to bring together groups that you would not think at first glance they have anything in common,” he says.

Kevin was born in Castries, St. Lucia, and was just three months old when he came to Guyana where he spent the first three years of his life. His parents returned to St Lucia when he was three years old, and he lived there. “I was very young but I do remember being strolled on the sea wall,” he notes of his brief life in Guyana, before migrating to St Lucia.

“It was a fairly smooth transition. At about three or four years you don’t really have a huge memory. I recall being between accents though; I had a bit of a Guyanese accent on arrival as I had gone to school in Guyana and interacted with kids there.” As child does in new environments, he quickly adapted to life in St Lucia, and he had as enjoyable a childhood as children could get. “We moved into a neighborhood where there were many children my age. We would ride our bikes, play Nintendo, hide and seek, make kites from coconut sticks, thread and glue from the trees, catch crabs,” he recalled fondly.

Since leaving Guyana in 1989, Kevin was back in Guyana in 2016 for Guyana’s Jubilee Independence Anniversary celebrations.

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