‘Family makes the difference’ says newly called lawyer  

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Attorney Claneisha Gomes
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The mood was both cheerful and tearful amongst family and friends at the High Court of Antigua and Barbuda on Friday morning as a young woman, Claneisha Gomes, was called to the bar, officially making her an attorney-at-law.

Gomes, who was a journalist with The Daily Observer for a short while years ago, used her brief statement to the court after being called, to specially acknowledge her mother, Claude Laviscount, and then her extended family for supporting her and pushing her toward her goal.

“I am blessed to have had an intelligent and hardworking mother who molded me,” she said, describing fond memories of her mother’s parenting and friendship.

Surrounded too by aunts, uncles, cousins, other family members and friends during the courtroom ceremony, she called it a “privilege” to have been brought up with “overlapping parental figures” including coaches, youth fellowship leaders, and her godparents.

Gomes emphasised the impact that a family and the community had on her life, saying their presence and input “made a difference for me, and I am grateful to all of them.”

Her close-knit family perhaps influenced her interest in family law, an area of practice she hopes to delve into more fully at a later stage in her career.

The young attorney, still in her twenties, graduated from The University of the West Indies, Mona, in 2020 with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), and then from the Norman Manley Law School (NMLS) with the required Legal Education Certificate (LEC) in October 2022. She is presently at the law firm of Cort & Cort, but earlier, worked at the chambers of attorney Jason Martin, whom she also thanked.

In a comment shared with The Daily Observer over the weekend, Head of Chambers at Cort & Cort, attorney Dr Errol Cort, said Gomes was an “exceptionally talented individual” with an “appetite for work,” a “craving for knowledge” and a marked ability to do “quality legal research.”

Her application to be called was moved by a lawyer of the same firm, Sharon Cort-Thibou, who admonished her newly called colleague to view the occasion as the beginning of another journey of learning which would necessitate humility and diligence.

Also present during the ceremony was attorney and Senator, Alincia Williams-Grant, who is Gomes’ godmother, and who seconded the application. She told The Daily Observer that she was “extremely emotional” and had been waiting for the day when she could welcome her goddaughter to the bar.

“Not only because she is my goddaughter, but also because young people realising their dreams through persistence, dedication and hard work is exciting for me. I know firsthand too that education is a critical empowering and transformative tool. I look forward to this young woman – a personable, dynamic and stylish professional- becoming a changemaker in her own right,” said Williams-Grant.

Gomes, from Grays Farm, is a netball player, and she remains a netball enthusiast. She was a reporter for The Daily Observer in 2017, covering government, politics, crime, and community affairs among other topics.

Before her law studies, she studied mass communication at Midwestern State University in Texas, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2015.

She graduated from the Antigua Girls High School (AGHS), where she was head girl, in 2011.

We at The Daily Observer congratulate Attorney Gomes, and wish the best in her career.

 We fondly remember her time in the newsroom.

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