Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
Academic and social all-rounder admitted to the Bar
By Zena Henry
In a very emotional ceremony yesterday, 23-year-old Delicia Helwig of Prashad Nagar, Georgetown, had her petition to the Guyana Bar Association delivered by Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo and received by Madame Justice Dawn Gregory.
The third of five children born to Patricia and Desmond Helwig, Delicia was described as a fun-loving, outgoing and active young woman who dedicated her time to academic, social and personal development, while contributing to charitable organizations.
Attorney-at-law Delicia Helwig (left) with Madame Justice Dawn Gregory
She was noted for her 10 subjects achieved at the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC). After Bishops’ High School, the new attorney attended the University of Guyana studying International Relations. She went on to LL.B. Preparatory Law, before achieving a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and passing with credit.
At the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago where the young woman attained her Legal Education Certificate (LEC), she was awarded the Phelps and Co. Prize for best performance in Civil Practice and Procedure. She went on to win three other awards for best performance in Trial Advocacy, the Principal’s Award for Advocacy and the best performance in Civil Procedure and Practice 1 and Civil Procedure and Practice II by a Guyanese student, 2012-2013.
In her persistence to achieve, Delicia worked at various organizations including the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), Digicel, and several legal outfits.
The young lawyer is also a certified Peer Educator and has been actively involved with the country’s Youth Parliament; taking up the post of Shadow Education Minister and winning the prize for “Best Presentation of Arguments.”
Delicia has also been involved in a number of international organizations, dealing with child advocacy and health care.
Also holding a significant interest in sports, Delicia is a former member of the National Swimming Team (1997-2005) and represented the country regionally. She is a past member of the National School of Dance and a current member of the National Dance Company, representing Guyana at Carifesta X in 2008. She is also the holder of a SHO 1st Dan black belt in Shotokan Karate from the Japan Karate Association, 2001. Modeling, public speaking and lending a hand to youth groups are among her other interests.
But great achievement does not come without hard work, especially when one comes from humble beginnings. Elated and overwhelmed, Delicia tearfully explained to the gathering of family, friends, well-wishers and now colleagues of the legal fraternity, that it was a hard road to travel but she had made it.
Her emphasis was placed on the financial hardships her parents faced in their upbringing, and how they were able to use their experiences to mould her to strive for excellence. Recounting her father’s days of walking to school barefoot and her mother’s struggles between seven motherless siblings caused tears to stream down their faces, and by the time she completed her impromptu speech, more than half of the courtroom were wiping away tears.
While no definite law firm is in mind for the young lawyer, she hopes to make waves in her new profession. Delicia has taken a liking to criminal law and is hoping to make a difference in that area, while maintaining the prestige and standard of the Bar, as she was encouraged to do.
Making it her own; Delicia is guided by Aristotle’s quote, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act but a habit.”
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