THE Attorney General’s Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs has appointed three senior officers to hold the posts of Deputy Solicitor General, Assistant Solicitor General and State Solicitor, Public Trustee/ Official Receiver.

In a statement to the media Saturday, the ministry announced the appointment of Deborah Diane Kumar as Deputy Solicitor General; Beverley Natasha Maison Bishop-Cheddie as Assistant Solicitor General; and Jennifer Ayana McCalman as State Solicitor, Public Trustee/ Official Receiver.

According to the ministry, the appointment of the three women represents a further meaningful step in its output of legal calibre.
The ministry’s objective is “to ensure value is added and to select candidates who are capable of getting the job done, because employee performance is critical to overall success in the public affairs”, the statement said.

Kumar, a Queen’s College graduate of 1995, was admitted to the local bar in October 2001 and three years later, she was admitted to the Trinidad Bar.
According to the minister, the newly-appointed Deputy Solicitor General has a wealth of knowledge and experience within the practice for almost 18 years.

“Ms. Deborah Kumar has been in private practice which she embraces, as it was the stepping stone for the blossom of her career. She has always had a passion for public service and now assume and dedicates her time at the Ministry of Legal Affairs,” the statement added.

Kumar obtained her Bachelor of Laws Degree in 1999 from the University of Guyana, after which she pursued and obtained the Law Education Certificate at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad, September 7, 2001.

Similarly, Beverley Natasha Maison Bishop-Cheddie, another graduate of Queen’s College, has 11 years experience and knowledge in the legal profession.

She pursued a first degree in Social Work where she shared best graduating student in 1999. Thereafter, she graduated with a degree in law at the University of Guyana in 2004.
Bishop-Cheddie immediately thereafter enrolled into the Hugh Wooding Law School which she successfully completed in 2006. She was employed as a Judicial Research Assistant for the Trinidad & Tobago Judiciary from 2006-2010; she served at the magistracy, high court and appellate level.

Upon return to Guyana, she engaged in private practice as Advocate Attorney and served as a temporary magistrate. She also worked as a probation officer for one year from 2000 to 2001 at the then Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security.

Like Kumar and Bishop-Cheddie, Jennifer Ayana McCalman graduated from the University of Guyana in 2003 and holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree with distinction. She is the recipient of the University of Guyana Pro-Chancellor’s Medal, graduating as the Best Law Student within the Faculty of Law in 2003.

In 2005, she graduated with a Legal Education Certificate (LEC) with Honours from the Hugh Wooding Law School. McCalman was admitted to practice law here on October 20, 2005. She is also admitted to practice as a solicitor and barrister within the St. Christopher and Nevis Circuit of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

McCalman’s work and legal experience includes serving as State Counsel in the Advice & Litigation Department of the Attorney General’s Chambers within the Ministry of Legal Affairs, Guyana, where she worked after her admission to the Guyana Bar in 2005.
She then went into private practice and has been providing service to individual clients, corporations and non-governmental organisations for the past 13 years.

In January 2013, McCalman became a Christian Missionary in Johannesburg, South Africa. She served the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA), One Church in Five Countries –Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, as the Communications and Justice Advocacy Officer.

She completed her missionary service in August 2014 and returned to Guyana with a global experience ready to serve her country. McCalman now serves as the State Solicitor, Public Trustee/Official Receiver within the Attorney General’s Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs.

The Attorney General’s Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs said McCalmon brings a wide array of skills, knowledge and experience to the public service. She has been diligently serving in the post of State Solicitor, Public Trustee/Official Receiver since September, 2017.

“The ministry has appointed passion-driven individuals who will support the mission of the ministry to enhance the legal services provided to public agencies and the vision for an effective public service that works in the best interest of the government and the society at large,” the statement concluded.