KEVIN Jerome Basil Williams, son of Minister of Legal Affairs Basil Williams and High Court Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Justice Lorraine Williams, has recently graduated with a ‘Juris Doctor’ (JD) degree.

In an interview with the Pepperpot Magazine, the 32-year-old pulled back the curtains to his journey in achieving the degree, which is the highest of its kind.
Williams attended the Ottawa Law School in Canada but told the magazine that although his parents were trailblazers in the field, it was not always his intention to study law.
“It was something that came naturally. At first, I think I kind of ran away from it and pursued Sciences but then I realised that my strengths were really in the Arts,” he admitted.

Williams began the three-year programme in the fall of 2015 but prior to that completed his Bachelors of Arts (BA) in Law and Political Science with a Minor in Spanish, receiving the highest honours and also achieved his Masters in International Affairs.

In recapping his journey, Williams said that he experienced both high and low points along the way which, as a Christian, helped to strengthen his reliance and faith in God.
“There were points between each degree that I questioned myself on whether I was doing the right thing or whether this was really cut out for me,” he said.

“But at that same time I had to realise that these degrees were not just sprints, they were more marathons and there was a bigger focus of each stage of the journey. So I had to pick myself back up, really relying on my faith in God…I leaned on God for strength and restoration…the highs were definitely better than the lows but at the same time I always had the perspective that this is one step towards a larger picture.”

As Williams prepares to be admitted to practice law in Canada as a fully qualified attorney in 2019, he reserves his favourite picks for future practice as Immigration Law and Family Law but he also has interests in other areas.
The young man revealed that in his spare time he is a tennis enthusiast. “I train for tennis, I train excessively throughout the winter and I have a coach that I train with. In the summer I play club-level tennis. I try to get out there on the beautiful sunny days that we have.”

Apart from sports, he is also a part of the ministry at the university called Campus Rush which is a community of young Christians, purposed with transforming lives and encouraging others to be leaders on campus.

“There, I serve in the worship ministry so I am a worshiper. In my spare time I’m also in church and at choir practice or at prayer meetings,” he said.
Williams is also the Director of Governance of the Young Leaders Advisory Council (YLAC) which aims to positively influence young people of racialised communities towards positions of leadership.