[dropcap]K[/dropcap]evin Jerome Basil Williams is a Saint Lucian obviously destined for great things. The 32-year-old is the son of Justice Lorraine Williams and Hon. Basil Williams S.C. Justice Williams is the former High Commissioner for the OECS in Canada and currently the Resident Judge in St. Kitts and Nevis. Mr. Williams is Guyana’s attorney general and legal affairs minister.
Although his first love was medicine, Kevin quickly changed gears after a year of pre-med studies. He is now well on his way to following in his parents’ footsteps. During a recent sit-down with the STAR, Justice Williams spoke with touching pride about her only offspring.
His journey began as a student of the Saint Mary’s College where he was the valedictorian as well as Student of the Year in 2004. Shortly after graduation, he left home to further his studies in Canada, where he joined his mother, then head of the OECS mission in Ottawa. In 2009 Kevin Williams graduated from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Law and Political Science degree, summa cum laude. He later attained a Masters in International Affairs at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, also in Canada, and then it was on to the University of Ottawa Law School where he earned his JD.
As for the possibility of her son returning to practise law in Saint Lucia, Justice Williams took her time answering. Finally she said: “I will never say never, especially when the decision is not all mine to make. But I imagine it will be a while before that happens, if at all.”
Meanwhile young Mr. Williams takes every opportunity to demonstrate his closeness to the land that gave him birth. At his graduation in 2018, he proudly carried with him onstage a miniature version of the flag of Saint Lucia.
Justice Williams also revealed that her son is “a very spiritual person”. Always when problems seem insurmountable, when he has been tempted by thoughts of dropping out for one reason or another, “his strong belief in the Almighty has seen him through to his goal. His faith has kept him afloat, regardless of how stormy the waters.” This writer had the feeling the younger Williams may have inherited from his mother more than just a passion for justice.
So what’s next for Kevin Jerome Williams? He has now joined a law firm in Toronto where he will undergo a mandatory 10-month term of articling, on completion of which he will be called to the Bar of Ontario. The late Parry Husbands, a prominent jurist who for several years served the John Compton administration as attorney general, would’ve been justly proud of his grand nephew!
