Ian Wilkinson (left), Carol Williams, Sharon McDaniel, secretary of the organising committee, and André Earle, chairman of the committee, are all smiles at the Norman Manley Law School reunion at Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel last Saturday. - Contributed Photos

THE YEAR was 1989. Michael Manley defeated Edward Seaga to become prime minister. Sandra Foster won the Miss Jamaica Universe pageant and a Red Stripe beer cost about $2.90.

These facts are probably more significant to you than the next which will follow. Forty-one law students graduated from Norman Manley Law School (NMLS). Yes, maybe not very significant to you, but for them, it was the beginning of the rest of their lives. Twenty years later, they came together to tell their story. At a reunion dinner held on Saturday in the El Dorado room at Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St Andrew, memories and jokes flowed freely.

They have all changed and matured into leaders in the law fraternity, but have not forgotten their allegiance to their schools and the wider society.

"You are and have always been stars ... Much has been expected of you and you have delivered," said Justice C. Dennis Morrison, the guest speaker for the evening. He implored the lawyers to rise even higher and reassess their role in the development of the nation. He also implored them to lobby for ideas like mandatory checks of their accounts, refresher courses for lawyers and a code of ethics for judges, all in an effort to keep the profession honest.

The group also took the opportunity to launch the Class of 1989 Scholarship, which will be offered to a needy second-year law student at NMLS .

The student will have to display a high average in the first academic year. Additionally, the person would have to show good leadership qualities, an involvement in school and community activities, and a good class attendance.

Guests included Professor Stephen Vasciannie (principal NMLS), Mark Golding, Leslie Hibbert, Judith Pusey, Ian Wilkinson, Daille Ashley, Sharon McDaniel, Helen Birch, Sandra Minott-Phillips, André Earle and Aisha Mulendwe.

From left: Ian Wilkinson, master of ceremonies for the programme, spends some quality time with Sandra Minott-Phillips, Justice Hilary Phillips and Samuel Bulgin, QC, attorney general for the Cayman Islands.