NEWLY-MINTED attorney-at-law, Latoya Roberts on Wednesday received the Government of Guyana Prize for being the best graduating Guyanese Law Student at the Hugh Wooding Law School based in Trinidad.

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams, presented the prize to the young attorney during a ceremony at his office. Roberts was adjudged the best graduating student for 2016.

Inspired by Direll Gittens, a youth leader in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, whom Roberts described as a father figure in her life, the young woman opted to study law in Sixth Form at President’s College, making a complete switch from the business stream she pursued while attending the North Georgetown Secondary.

She was not only well-spoken, but had a natural tendency for arguing and Gittens thought that that skill could have been best used in the field of Law. Her road to success, however, was a rough one but that did not stop her. “But all those experiences shaped her into who she is today,” the Attorney General said, noting that Roberts has truly lived up to her mother’s mantra that “Education is a means by which one can escape poverty.”

In 2004, Roberts, who hails from Vreed-en-Rust on the West Bank of Demerara, graduated as the valedictorian of her class after excelling in nine subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations. At President’s College, she was also the best graduating student. “In 2006, she then entered the University of Guyana to read for the LLB degree and in 2010 she graduated with the coveted LLB Degree from the University of Guyana. As she did not immediately have the finances to attend the Hugh Wooding Law School, Roberts opted to work and save to acquire the funds to continue her legal studies,” the Attorney General stated.

She gained employment at the Business School as a Programme Coordinator and subsequently at School of the Nations as a Language and Literature Teacher. In 2014, with support from her family and friends and even members of her church, the then 27-year-old, who was raised by her single-parent mother, commenced studies at the Hugh Wooding Law School reading for the Legal Education Certificate. She graduated in 2016 as the best Guyanese Law Student.

According to the Attorney General, Roberts, who describes herself as a “country-girl” certainly made her mark academically through perseverance and unequivocal dedication to her religious belief.

He added: “Latoya’s journey has certainly been filled with obstacles and trials, but in the end her dream became her reality,” Minister Williams noted.

Roberts told reporters that she is now in private practice. “That affords me the opportunity to dabble in all of the areas of law. So I get to basically taste before I decide (on which area to specialise,” she said. Asked for her take on the establishment of a law school here, Roberts said it was something she dreamt of while studying. “Definitely cost wise it would be a lot cheaper for many students like myself who see the cost as a major barrier to attending Law School,” she pointed out, noting too that a law school here would allow for students to have greater support from their family and friends.

There is no such thing as too many lawyers, Roberts posited as she dismissed critics who are of the opinion that establishment of a school here would saturate the system. She said “if guided correctly and in the right direction,” there will always be a need for lawyers. Roberts also called for lawyers to specialize and in doing so make the field more diverse.

The Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of the Caribbean (UCC) and Law College of the Americas (LCA) for the establishment of a law school here.