My sister that’s 11 years older than I am, became a lawyer and it helped with my decision to become a lawyer. I think overall my decision to become a lawyer was influenced also by the strong women in my family. My mom moved to the US in her late 20s with my sister and worked at Friendly’s then eventually became a Nurse’s Aide. My grandmother moved here in her late 30s and worked many jobs including cleaning floors but ended up gaining her Undergraduate degree, her master’s degree and then her Doctoral degree and a professor at SUNY, Old Westbury.
My aunt immigrated from Jamaica to NY in the 70s and filed for other family members to come to the US and she’s the reason we all are as successful as we are. She also became an RN, So you see I come from a lineage of really great women on both sides of my family and that was enough encouragement to become a lawyer and to really value education.
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How do you work within tight time constraints?
Throughout my workday my caseloads are heavy, and I work within tight time constraints. Time management is hard because I’m involved in quite a few things. I’m a partner in my law firm and I’m involved in managing associates, utilizing them and delegating work. I am not a 9-5 person and I try not to become consumed by work, however I may have to wake up early, stay late and sometimes work on the weekends. I have to be able to work hard to play hard and enjoy the fruit of my labor so I calendar my work otherwise it won’t get done. I don’t just depend on memory, I prioritize.
How do you make sure your legal research and paperwork are error-free?
I have been very lucky that I was taught the nuts and bolts of my practice. I practiced insurance law and I was also an injury attorney law and I was also an injury attorney and when people got hurt, I represented the Insurance company and for 17 years of practice I sat with attorneys who taught me how to properly write and document. I’m not dependent on the technology that we have today like AI and other mechanisms that can do the work for you. I learned myself the old fashion way.
How do you build trust with a difficult or unhappy client?
Oh, I definitely encounter that. Firstly, I have a young voice, like you mentioned in our earlier conversation, add to that a young face.
So sometimes the clients wonder who is that little girl they sent to handle my case?
But I can say with confidence that I am a good lawyer, and the results speak for themselves. I am knowledgeable and able to answer tough questions and of course successful outcomes at trials especially cases that are very difficult sometimes coming from another attorney who think there is nothing else that they can do. When I take over the case the outcome is successful. This contributes to a positive and strong relationship with my clients.
How do you handle work-related stress and long hours?
I love to travel so whenever there’s a holiday I try to make use of that time by attaching my vacation time to it to make it longer. When it’s quieter and courts are closed esp Thanksgiving and Christmas, I really take advantage of time off. Even though I love to travel doesn’t mean I have to go somewhere. It’s ok to be at home to do nothing. I try to use all my PTOs.
What do you like most and least about being an attorney?
I like to see things through to the end. When you get a case from the beginning or you inherit a case from another firm that is a complete mess and it’s up to me to put the pieces back together to get the perfect outcome in the defense of a successful case. I enjoy seeing getting what you put into it coming out of the efforts. That’s very fulfilling.
The least fulfilling part: Having to meet all the deadlines and clients all want their cases to be top priority. Clients are all important, but they all want to be helped first. Trying to balance that is sometimes difficult.
What advice would you give to any Jamaican, Jamaica-American, Caribbean or immigrants on a whole who has a dream?
Stay the course of your dream no matter how hard it may seem. Everything is not just going to be successful, wonderful and financially rewarding initially. It takes years. You may go through a lot such as employers who don’t want to teach you, colleagues who may get frustrated with you. You may be held back because you are Black, because you are a woman, because you’re an immigrant and because you are young. There are some real prejudices out there. It may be easier to give up because of these obstacles but stick it out and it will eventually pay off. Law school had all types of people and those who were older and married thought they had an edge because of life experience so they sized you up as though you didn’t belong or maybe you wouldn’t last. I proved them wrong and that is my advice.
