TWENTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD Ashley Henry was on Tuesday admitted to the Bar by Acting Chief Justice(CJ) Roxane George-Wiltshire SC, before a courtroom filled with relatives and friends.

Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes presented her petition to the court and gave an overview of the exceptional achievements made by Henry. Hughes shared that she is the daughter of Marlyn Henry and the late Aubrey Henry, and is the last of her parent’s four children.
She initially attended Mae’s Under 12 but was later transferred to ABC Academy where she sat the then Common Entrance Examination, and was awarded a place at St Rose’s High School.

According to Hughes, Henry’s academic excellence began at St Rose’s and has been endless ever since. She graduated with 10 CXC subjects, nine of which were distinctions and she was also St. Rose’s valedictorian at CAPE. After CAPE, Henry attended the University of Guyana and pursued a degree in Law, graduating with distinction. She was also amongst the top three students of her graduating year, 2016.

The scholar then went on to the Hugh Wooding Law School for the period 2016-2018, and achieved a list of honourary prizes, namely, the Guyana Government Prize for Best Performing Student from Guyana, the Association of Legal Officers of Trinidad and Tobago Prize for Ethics Rights and Obligations of the legal profession, the Cameron and Shepherd Prize for best performance in Civil Procedure and Practice 1 and II by a Guyanese student, Second Outstanding Year II student, the Principal’s Roll of Honor, and the Justice Sandra Paul Alternative Dispute Resolution Prize. Henry also won the prize as the second most outstanding student at the Hugh Wooding Law School.

“To say this is an outstanding student is an understatement…and to say that we are impressed is also an understatement,” Hughes said, adding that her admission is timely, “since there are new challenges and new areas of law, apart from oil and gas, there are many new areas that create new opportunities for practitioners.”

He humbly asked that the application be granted in favour of Henry, to which the chief justice replied without hesitation, “based upon what I’ve heard and what I’ve read, the application is granted.” With that, Ashley Henry was officially sworn in and admitted to practice law at the local bar.

The chief justice also tendered a few words of wisdom to the new attorney, advising her not to sell herself short and not to ever lower her standards. “Make your contributions, not only in the professional setting, but there is also a need to educate the nation so that they can understand this thing call justice.”

Tuesday also marked 28 years since the CJ was admitted to the Bar.
Henry later delivered an emotional speech that shared her journey, and she expressed gratitude to those who would have helped her to pull through and how grateful she was to have been admitted. “Today will forever be remembered as one of the greatest days in my life. It marks the end of my journey studying, and it also marks the beginning of my journey in this noble profession. Indeed, I have achieved one of my childhood dreams and I must give all praise and thanks to God,”

The new attorney broke down amidst her speech, sharing that she would have lost her father, one of her biggest supporters, mid-way of her studies. “Today my parents’ hard work and sacrifices have paid off, but unfortunately, only my mom is here to witness it… Some of the last words he said to me was stay focused and put all my energy into my studies… I will be forever grateful for everything he would have done for me.”

Ashley said she didn’t expect that she would have won so many prizes but she sees it as a very tremendous accomplishment, and is now focused on getting a feel of the general practice. She added that she is passionate about youth development, and therefore intends to use her influence to act as mentor to young individuals to develop the youths of our country.