BELZE CITY, Fri. Oct. 18, 2019– The Supreme Court of Chief Justice, Hon. Kenneth Benjamin, convened this morning to hear the application of Alyson Giselle Courtenay, the latest member of the Courtenay family to be called to the Belize Bar to practice law.
The application was steered through the formal court process by the father of the applicant, attorney Eamon Courtenay, S.C., and his wife, Denise Courtenay, who also spoke on her daughter’s behalf.
Courtenay submitted to the court that his daughter satisfies all the requirements that are necessary to practice law. The first requirement is that she is a citizen of a CARICOM country and holds the requisite qualification and is of good character and has paid the prescribed fees to the Registry of the Supreme Court.
Alyson Courtenay is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, United States, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Global Studies.
In addition, she is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, from which she received a Bachelor of Law degree, and the Norman Manley Law School, from which she received a Legal Education Certificate.
While at the Norman Manley Law School, Courtenay was the recipient of several awards for her outstanding scholarship. She also was listed on the Principal’s Roll of Honour. Courtenay was also a recipient of the Raphael Codlin Prize, which is awarded to the Most Outstanding Student over two years.
Courtenay was also a third place recipient of the Courtenay Coye LLP Prize awarded to the most outstanding student over two years. Courtenay also captured the Kelsick, Wilkin & Ferdinand Prize awarded to the overseas student with the best performance over two years.
Coming from a family that has made distinguished contributions to the law, Courtenay remarked to News5 and Amandala after the court hearing, “Strangely enough, growing up, my parents never spoke about law, so it’s really a new journey for me, and I think that now I feel the pressure, but growing up, I didn’t. But I also think of it positively; I have the best mentors, I have the best team, I have the best support system around me. So I didn’t have too much pressure. It just was kind of in me to do this.”
Alyson Courtenay joins the prestigious Courtenay Coye law firm as its youngest attorney. When she was asked what she would specialize in, Courtenay replied, “I’m a bit too young to choose what I want to do, so at this time, I’ll just be taking whatever work they give me. I know what I prefer, I know that I prefer transactional work, but I think my father will ultimately force me to get into litigation at some point, but I’m open to anything at this point.”