The law of balance
Legal ace Tanya Golaub on life lessons, shepherding The Pinnacle luxury development
Published:Sunday | July 20, 2025 | 12:10 AMOmar Tomlinson - Contributor
Call her shrewd if you like, but attorney-at-law Tanya Golaub does not squander a moment.
Seated around the negotiating table in April to hammer out partnership terms for The Pinnacle, the St James-based luxury residential development, with executives from Accor – the world’s second largest manager of upscale branded residences – Golaub had urgent patriotic concerns she was not about to let go unsaid.
In the meeting, as both parties prepared to sign on the dotted line, Golaub said she brought up how Jamaican professionals advance in international chains operating here but rarely reach the very top positions. “We had a checklist, and at the top of it was human resources. I asked them directly about their commitment to creating pathways for local professionals to advance into the highest levels of leadership and what their approach would be to ensuring these opportunities exist,” said Golaub.
The legal strategist said, “They were very direct about creating opportunities. They committed to sending Jamaican staff from this Accor property to their other luxury hotels for training, then bringing them back with advanced skills and higher compensation”.
Golaub is the chief operating officer of LCH Developments, the developer of the US$450-million Pinnacle project currently under construction, which will be Jamaica’s first branded residences. The 17.5-acre location, situated on the peninsula of Reading in the western parish, is prime real estate. It is the last available large oceanfront property located west of the Sangster International Airport in the Second City. On the horizon are 427 luxury residences in four high-rises, the first tower due for completion by year-end. Plus, 12 private villas.
“This is a special location, so we’re the guardians of the area. Environmental protection is central to developing this project,” she told The Sunday Gleaner in a sit-down last week at Golaub & Golaub, the family law practice she runs with her lawyer brother Viv Laal in Bogue. Together, the siblings have legal and implementation oversight on the development. Under the established Pinnacle Foundation, Golaub said the environment is one of three key focus areas. The other two are education and housing.
Tenacious and whip-smart, the diminutive attorney is outfitted in a crisp white linen shirt dress, earthy jewellery, and high-top trainers for our late Friday morning meet-up in her office.
HOMETOWN PARISH
As the point person for this multimillion-dollar luxury development in her hometown parish, the massive scope of the undertaking is not lost on her. She is integrally involved across all platforms of the project, and with land conveyance and real estate, her long-time legal speciality, perfectly aligned with the know-how.
“This started with the vision of LCH Developments shareholders, led by CEO Yangseng Li. They’re Chinese but have lived in Montego Bay for over 25 years. They saw the Reading land and wanted to secure it. My brother had been representing them individually for years. Yangseng and the team have a vision for Jamaica – they wanted something different that would put Jamaica on the global luxury map.”
The Pinnacle’s luxury concept broke ground in 2020. “It’s been five years in the making – getting the property and retaining the right people,” Golaub informed. “The way we view luxury is as ease of living that doesn’t require too much of your time. Time is the real luxury.”
Owners of residences or those coming here for stays, she detailed, will have access to Pinnacle’s luxury resident director, who will make their stay seamless. “If you’re coming for six months or a year, you have maid service and a commercial centre for whatever you want. Want flowers? There’s a florist. Want a massage? There’s a masseuse team. We have people who can do your supermarket shopping. Not feeling well? There’s a doctor on call.”
Most surprisingly, for the multitasking dynamo, law was not initially on her radar as a career option.
ART ASPIRATIONS
“I wasn’t interested in law at all,” she revealed, pointing to two distinctive pieces of impressionistic artwork adorning opposite sides of her office walls.
“That’s my painting, and this is my painting, too. I loved the arts and enjoyed painting,” shared the Mount Alvernia High alum and former head girl, whose business entrepreneur parents, Valrie and Viv Laal, Senior, enquired what would be her next move when she enrolled at Montego Bay Community College.
“When my sister Peta Gaye got into law school, my parents asked what I was going to do. I wanted to continue painting and become an artist. They said, ‘Your sister got into law school. If you get in, go with her.’”
A strong-willed Golaub pushed back but offered a compromise. “I told them I’d go with her, but if I didn’t like it, I’d come back and do what I wanted. I got into the University of Liverpool in the Cayman Islands with my sister, and it was very challenging – that appealed to something innate in me. The challenge was something I appreciated. I was learning something different, and it felt like a perfect fit. I followed my instincts and trusted my gut. From the first semester, I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life.”
She matriculated to the Norman Manley Law School in 2008, graduating two years later, and was then called to the Bar.
Her legal career took flight as a prosecutor stationed in Portland. “It was beautiful there. I remember the first day I walked into court. They showed me files and said, ‘Here are your files. Read them, then go to court.’”
“I went in, listened and observed. I learnt a lot about myself. That’s important — to build and learn as you go,” she recalled to The Sunday Gleaner as she offered to take us on a site visit of the under-construction Pinnacle.
We hop into her four-wheel-drive pickup and head out in early afternoon traffic to the development that’s the talk of the town in Montego Bay for those eyeing the possibility of acquiring high-end, skyscraper properties, with starting prices at US$600,000.
Golaub’s first triumphant case as a prosecutor was for a client who had a ratchet. “I remember when I won, the judge looked at me and said, ‘Good questions,’ and a heartened Golaub thought to herself, ‘I know!’”
After a while, prosecutorial work wore on the attorney. “If you’re in a system too long and it starts eating away at your core principles, it’s not a place to stay. There were cases involving children — that’s a soft spot for me. If you’re not feeling sympathy, there’s a problem. I did it for two years in Portland, then Trelawny. That was it.”
Before entering prosecution, her commitment to justice was already evident through innovative systemic solutions. While working at the labour department, she had established an ombudsman office within her office, “which would have allowed persons who were forced to leave the island without their severance for that office to be able to pursue severance even in their absence. That helped many persons being able to get monies they were owed”. John Epps, the ombudsman at the time, mentioned her innovative approach in his parliamentary report, cementing the work as part of Grand Cayman’s official legislative record — a testament to her ability to effect systemic change even within rigid bureaucratic structures.
Transitioning into private practice, she opened a firm with her brother in 2012 at Bogue Industrial Estate on land her grandfather owned, where he had been a distributor for J. Wray & Nephew.
Initially, they took on different clients and different cases. “I’ve done intellectual property, commercial law, conveyancing, civil litigation, criminal litigation — we were exploring. He and I are now in real estate, and we’ve found that’s our niche. Our client base has grown with us over the years. As they do well, we do well. It comes down to service. It’s been a very empathetic relationship — lots of loyalty and respect,” she summarised.
Becoming an educator also brought personal fulfilment. She was a law lecturer at the University of Technology for 13 years. “I love real estate, the market, the dynamics of it. Education isn’t something you covet and hide. It’s something you give. Enroy, who works in my office as a paralegal, was one of my students. It’s been a pleasure watching him grow into himself.”
This philosophy of giving back extends far beyond formal classroom settings and represents, perhaps, her most enduring legacy. “The second thing I’m really proud of is helping my students at the law school and the work I have done with them over the years, which I continue to do now, even though I’m not a lecturer anymore. I still hire them as part of my internal staff at my law office and also work along with them for training opportunities.” It’s a deliberate strategy that creates a pipeline of skilled professionals while simultaneously addressing Jamaica’s brain drain challenge — former students remain connected to the local legal ecosystem rather than seeking opportunities elsewhere.
On campus, she met fellow attorney Franz Jobson, who became her partner and with whom she shares a son. “I met him by chance and found him very interesting when we started talking about his teaching.”
Cherished leisure time for Golaub is spent watching anime with her nine-year-old Luka and planning overseas trips. “I listen to him because it’s important to retain that innate child. Family time is with my parents, brother, sister, and my little nephew — my circle is very tight. Just sitting, cooking, and chatting. I’m making a meal and say, ‘Let’s go to the fisherman and get our fish’ — have an experience. It’s building those memories.”
Motherhood has gifted her with prized lessons. “My son is very wise and has taught me a lot. I’ll ask his opinion on things, and he’ll stop — it might take him an hour or two. I’ll think he’s forgotten, then he’ll turn to me and say, ‘Remember when you asked me this? This is what I think.’ I respect that about him and wish I were more like that — that deep thought he gives to everything. He doesn’t take it for granted that you’re asking him something. He takes it very seriously.”
Our convo winding up, there’s one final question: “What do you personally wish to be the pinnacle of your life?”
Intense contemplation registers on her face as her eyebrows crinkle in thought. “It comes down to being balanced and not losing the core of who you are. I tell my son every day: it’s easy to become something else — anything bad, you can become. But it’s much harder when you choose to be something more. I don’t ever want to lose that.”