Attorney-at-Law and University of Guyana Lecturer Chevy Devonish has been selected by multinational firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP to participate in the Firm’s prestigious ‘Foreign Attorney Program.’
A press release from the Attorney General’s Chambers said that Devonish is the first Guyanese to be selected for this program, which is not a government initiative. Recruitment and vetting are handled exclusively by the Firm.
Arnold & Porter is a multinational firm employing almost 1000 attorneys practicing in approximately 40 areas in 14 offices across the globe. Practice areas include international corporate law, international financing, and international arbitration.
It is expected that Devonish will be an active member of the Firm’s international corporate, financing, and, time permitting, international arbitration practices at the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office until July 2023.
Since Devonish is not licensed to practice law in the United States, he will not function as an attorney-at-law during the program. Still, he will, among other things, actively observe and participate in cases along with Arnold & Porter’s attorneys.
“These are areas of increasing relevance and importance due to the unprecedented commercial growth prompted by oil and gas exploration and development in Guyana. I look forward to learning from Arnold & Porter and returning to leverage that knowledge to assist Guyana’s development. Arnold & Porter is an ideal place to develop these skills as the Firm routinely represents sovereign states in these areas, ” Devonish said.
“I also look forward to exploring ways in which I can employ the skills I have accumulated in journalism, lecturing, and legal practice in Guyana to the benefit of Arnold & Porter. Guyana is developing, but Guyanese have much to offer the world,” he added.
Arnold & Porter’s Foreign Attorney Program is designed to allow foreign attorneys to understand firsthand the variety of services the Firm provides for its clients.
Foreign attorneys observe and participate in U.S. law firm practice and learn about various legal proceedings.
They also attend seminars and training programs on U.S. and international legal issues and actively observe and participate in cases in their practice areas, including attending client meetings, hearings, strategy sessions, and reviewing relevant case documents.
The participants also undertake legal research and writing and work collaboratively with Arnold & Porter attorneys on various matters.
Both the Attorney General’s Chambers and the University of Guyana said they are immensely proud of Devonish as he proceeds on this endeavour and look forward to his return.
Devonish graduated as valedictorian of the Hugh Wooding Law School’s graduating class of 2019 and was admitted to the Bar in Guyana in November 2019.
He was appointed State Counsel at the Attorney General’s Chambers and Ministry of Legal Affairs in February 2020.
He also worked on various cases of national significance, including Election Petitions 88 and 99 of 2020. With the Attorney General’s approval, Devonish resuscitated the Chambers’ liaison system and conceptualised, implemented, and coordinated the LLB internship initiative.
Devonish has served as a liaison to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
He has also assisted in coordinating and implementing the Summary Courts’ Prosecutors Programme, which has seen the training and deployment of 30 LLB holders into Guyana’s Magistrates’ Courts.
Additionally, since being admitted to the Bar in Guyana, he has lectured and tutored in Public International Law, Jurisprudence, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Real Property, and Politics at the University of Guyana.
