Lawyers pay it forward - Norman Manley Law School Class of 2001 establishes anniversary fund to support students

The Norman Manley Law School Class of 2001 has committed to establishing a fund to support students at the institution as members marked 25 years since graduating and reflected on the changes that have reshaped the legal profession across the Caribbean.

The commitment was announced by Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Judge Chantal Ononaiwu, who delivered the keynote remarks at the cohort’s 25th anniversary gala dinner in Kingston on October 31.

Ononaiwu said the Class of 2001 25th Anniversary Fund would allow members to contribute over the next year towards supporting the Racquel Walsh Foundation and other initiatives benefiting students at the law school.

The fund is part of the cohort’s effort to give back to the institution that provided the foundation for their careers and is intended to complement the school’s Alumni Giving Campaign, launched in June 2026 to expand student support, scholarships, internships, clinics, and mentorship programmes.

Ononaiwu said members of the class had also committed to supporting the law school’s Dining and Mentorship Programme, which pairs students with members of the legal profession to help them understand the unwritten expectations and practical demands of legal practice.

The initiative, officially launched in February 2026, seeks to teach what the school describes as the “hidden curriculum” of the profession.

“We will continue to support our alma mater, the Norman Manley Law School, in the pursuit of its mission to train attorneys-at-law who are ethically grounded, socially responsible, and technically proficient,” Ononaiwu said.

She noted that members of the cohort had already been contributing to the institution through tutoring, delivering talks, providing internships, and mentoring students. The class also honoured two deceased members, Racquel Walsh and Marcia Ritchie, through prizes awarded to law school students.

The anniversary celebrations, she said, had provided an opportunity for the cohort to reflect on the quality of its legal education, the professional journeys of its members, and the impact they had made over the past quarter-century.

Ononaiwu said the class first came together nearly a year ago to support relief efforts for law school staff and students affected by Hurricane Melissa while also seeking to assist the institution’s mentorship initiative.

LEGAL EDUCATION

The Norman Manley Law School opened in September 1973 as one of three institutions established by the Council of Legal Education to provide professional training for university graduates seeking admission to practise law across the Commonwealth Caribbean.

Ononaiwu said the regional system of legal education, which combines academic studies with practical training at a law school administered by the Council of Legal Education, was one of the most successful examples of regional integration in the Commonwealth Caribbean.

She recalled that members of the Class of 2001 had completed their undergraduate legal studies at The University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill campus in 1999 before spending the following two years at the Norman Manley Law School.

Their training, she said, was shaped by an experienced faculty that included practising attorneys and judges as well as the school’s Legal Aid Clinic and in-service programmes, which reinforced professional ethics and prepared students for service to the public.

The class, affectionately known as the ‘Class of the Real Millennium’ because it produced the institution’s first graduates of the 21st century, entered the profession at a time when significant changes were beginning to take shape.

Ononaiwu said the legal landscape had been transformed over the past 25 years by an increase in the number of lawyers, technological advances, artificial intelligence and major legislative and procedural reforms.

She pointed to the expansion of the Norman Manley Law School as an indication of the growing supply of legal professionals in the region. The institution had more than 160 students when the Class of 2001 was enrolled, with an average graduating class of about 70.

For the 2026-2027 academic year, however, enrolment has increased to 520 students, with graduating classes now producing more than 200 attorneys.

Technological advances have also altered how lawyers work, with artificial intelligence increasingly being used for legal research and the preparation and review of documents. Court administration and other public services have also become more digitised, a process accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONSEQUENTIAL DEVELOPMENT

Ononaiwu identified the establishment of the CCJ as perhaps the most consequential development in the region’s legal landscape during the period.

The agreement establishing the court was signed in February 2001, the year the cohort graduated. The CCJ has since become the judicial institution of CARICOM, ensuring that the regional Community operates under the rule of law while contributing to the development of Caribbean jurisprudence.

As an apex court, its judgments are authoritative in countries that have accepted its appellate jurisdiction and are also cited by courts elsewhere.

Despite the changes, Ononaiwu said the core responsibilities of lawyers remained unchanged, with service, ethical conduct, and the protection of public confidence in the justice system continuing to underpin the profession.

“The legal profession continues to play a vital role in building a just and humane society and in the sustainable development of our region,” she said.

Members of the Class of 2001 have since pursued careers in private practice, business, academia, and development cooperation, while others have served in senior public-sector positions as prosecutors, court administrators, judges, parliamentarians, and government ministers.

Their influence, she said, extended beyond their own professional achievements to supporting the next generation of lawyers.

Ononaiwu highlighted an occasion during the class’s anniversary year when one member presided over the call to the Bar of another member’s daughter, who was born in the year the cohort entered law school.

She said the class remained committed to building on the legacy of its legal education and continuing to serve their countries and the wider Caribbean.

“We celebrate the achievements of our cohort, while recognising that our work, our impact, and our legacy as the Class of the Real Millennium are not complete,” she said.

editorial@gleanerjm.com