Friday, December 05, 2008A Dream Come True

Susanna Henighan-PotterSheila George on her Legal Career

IT IS A TUESDAY in July, and Sheila George has put in a full day at Harney Westwood & Riegels, dealing with real estate, trade, and commercial matters for the firm’s local clients. George, who grew up in East End, Tortola, has been at Harneys for 15 years. For the last 11 of them, she has been a partner – the first BVIslander to have achieved that status at the firm.

The shadows are lengthening outside the window, but George does not appear weary. Her speech is punctuated with expressive gestures and body language, and her candour immediately sets you at ease. But underneath George’s kind and open demeanour, there is a sure-footed professional.

As a girl, George attended the then-Long Look and East End Primary Schools. From an early age she was taught that it is necessary to work hard for the things you want. It was a lesson that has served her well over her nearly two-decade legal career, and one which she passes on to others.

“We are in an environment where sometimes people expect favours. We think that people owe us,” George says. “But the one thing I would want to say is that as a lawyer—and I expect it holds true in other professions as well—we have to be prepared to work as hard as it takes to do a good job. There are built into that some personal sacrifices.”

George wanted to be a lawyer since she was a student at the then-BVI High School. She doesn’t pinpoint a single experience or person that pushed her in that direction, but it was a dream she never doubted. “Very early on I wanted to be a teacher. But from the time I got to high school, I wanted to do law and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. And I was lucky, and privileged, and blessed all rolled up into one to be able to have the opportunity to actually do law, and I love it,” she says.

Opportunity for George came in 1984. Two years after she graduated from high school, George received a government scholarship and enrolled in the University of the West Indies’ Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at its Cave Hill campus in Barbados. After two years, she transferred to the Faculty of Law and graduated in 1989 with LLB (honours). She spent another two years at the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica, and graduated in 1991 with a legal practitioner’s certificate.

George returned to the BVI and began work as a Crown Counsel at the Attorney General’s Chambers. Two years later, she left the government to join Harney Westwood & Riegels, the BVI’s pre-eminent commercial law firm. She has been at Harneys ever since.

“When I started at Harneys, I did a mixture of different things. We were not as highly specialised as we are now,” she said. Her work included banking, corporate and commercial and property law, even a bit of litigation. “It was a good fit for me. I liked the work. I liked the culture. I was exposed to quite a bit that I hadn’t been exposed to in government,” she recalls.

As Harneys grew, its lawyers became more specialized and George focused on corporate, commercial and real estate matters. On January 1, 1997, she became a partner at Harneys and at the same time head of the firm’s BVI Business department – taking the lead on a wide range of work involving BVI clients and investors.

George likened the process of becoming a partner to a two-sided coin. On one side, she says, one must prove his/her commitment and worth to the firm and on the other, decide if it is the place for you.

“It is about working hard and demonstrating your value and merit to the organisation, and the organisation feeling you have something to contribute. It’s never an easy decision because it involves both your perspective and the organisation’s,” she said.

While becoming a partner at Harneys was a milestone achievement in her professional life, George says it was certainly not the ultimate in professional satisfaction. For George, that comes not from one-off achievements, per se, but from knowing that she did a good job for the client in every matter. “My proudest moments have come when I know I satisfied my client. This is because the only real concern at the end of the day is ensuring that you understand the client’s needs and that you do a very good job for them,” she said.

When George went away to law school in the late 1980s, it was still a relatively uncommon path for BVIslanders. It was difficult to secure a place in regional law schools, and the government was able to fund only a handful of scholarships for students.

But times have changed, and more and more BVIslanders are studying law in the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.

“The market is surely there, and I think people should pursue their dreams. The one great thing about the legal profession is that it is so diverse, and law is a good springboard for many things,” she said.

While George is pleased to see this development, she warns aspiring lawyers to enter the field for the right reasons. “We cannot do it merely because it seems to be a glamorous profession to get into. You must be genuinely interested in the law,” she said. “There’s this perceived glamour about law, which is not necessarily borne out in reality but equally there is a responsibility that must be taken seriously.”

In the same vein, George says that there is increasing competition for the best legal jobs, and students need to be aware that employers will be looking not only for a certificate, but also for the name of a respected law school and high grades. “More and more, it is becoming an extremely competitive environment. With more lawyers in the market, firms are beginning to focus on the top students,” she says.

And she strongly cautions BVIslanders against feeling entitled to the best jobs. “It cannot be that I am from the BVI, so I should get a job. You have to stay competitive and you have to ensure that you are at the top of the pack in terms of your training and in terms of your grades. We are competing in a world market because we are operating in a world market. It is essential that we as BVIslanders understand this,” she says.

Despite the hard work and personal sacrifices, George says that she is fortunate. Fortunate to have had the opportunities she did, and to have found her way into a profession that she loves. “What I enjoy most about law, is that it’s real. I love finding solutions to people’s daily issues. I love what I do,” she says.

George’s passion begins with understanding her client’s needs. She says that listening and understanding are just as important as speaking and arguing, and she notes that she has learnt some very useful and important lessons from clients themselves.

When posed with the question of whether or not in her professional career she has faced discrimination on the basis of her being a woman or a BVIslander, she responds, “There are challenges. I would be foolish to think there are none. But it is irrelevant ultimately because what matters is what you bring to the table,” she says. “You have to be better than the next person. You have to prove yourself. If we begin to think that because I’m a BVIslander or because I’m a woman, I’m being discriminated against, we’re going to have a problem. Your focus should be on being the absolutely best lawyer you can be and standing on that merit. And that’s what I encourage.”

Looking to the future, George plans to continue advancing her career, while taking time for her family.

Married to Superintendent Alwin James of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, who she describes as a truly loving and supportive husband and her dearest friend, they have a daughter; Kassidy. “Kassidy has brought a new level of joy to my life,” George says. “It really is special to come home to a daughter who is waiting to see you walk through the door. There is nothing else like it.”

George, who has the help of a nanny at home, is still trying to balance her demanding job with the new demands of motherhood. “Raising a child as a professional woman has its challenges, but there is nothing as fulfilling as being a good parent. Getting the balance right is definitely not easy and I am still not sure that I have it right. But regardless, I will continue to try,” she says.

Professionally, George has no immediate plans to leave Harneys. “I have been at Harneys an extremely long time”, she said. She continues to work on improving her skills. “It is a question of continued growth and development in an ever-changing professional environment, and now more than ever, firms and lawyers are competing for clients and the game and consequentially, the game-plan, are moving targets which we have to work hard to hit”.

Despite her satisfaction at Harneys, George does not rule out other possibilities, including returning to the public service. Over the years, she has served as clerk of the Income Tax Appeal Board and as a member on the Building Authority. She is currently Chairman of the Social Security Board, a responsibility which she says she is “thoroughly enjoying”.

Asked if she would consider a stint in the public service again, George replied, “I could very well return to the public service in the future. I do believe it is essential to give back, especially to a community that has given me so much,” she says, noting that without government’s help she would not have been able to study law in the first place.

But despite her open mind, George remains settled. “I don’t know that law is my final destination, but I certainly love what I do now and I am passionate about it and that’s all I can see for the moment.”

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