Jaleesa Simons has been Called to the Bar and hopes to embark on an exciting career in criminal law.

Ms Simons, 25, is working in the Department of Public Prosecutions, having graduating with a bachelor’s degree in humanities from the University of Brighton in 2010, and obtaining a graduate diploma in law at the University of Sussex in 2011.

The former Warwick Academy student told The Royal Gazette: “I have always wanted to do law but I had an interest in politics and history, so I chose to do both.

“I had some advice early on that there are many routes into law and I didn’t have to do it the conventional way, so that is what I planned and it all worked out. I would prefer crime generally, I find it to be very exciting.

Litigation in general — civil and criminal — I enjoy, but crime is definitely number one.

“I have been extended here at the DPP and hopefully I will be able to stay and get as much experience as I can.”

Ms Simons said many people had mentored and inspired her throughout her professional journey.

“At the end of my GDL year I worked with Victoria Pearman [Bermuda Ombudsmen] at Juris Law Chambers,” she said. “She was a mentor to me.

“She definitely played an integral role in confirming that law was what I wanted to do and that advocacy was what I preferred, especially in crime. Then there is Magistrate Nicole Stoneham. She was the one who introduced me to, and encouraged me to network with, more senior members of the Bar.

“My current supervisor, Ms Clarke [Cindy Clarke, deputy director of public prosecutions], has been very, very helpful over the past couple of years — agreeing to meet me when she didn’t have a clue who I was.

“She is a very exceptional person and when you work with someone who works that hard, there is an expectation that you meet a very high standard, so that is something I have had to maintain for the whole time I have been doing my pupillage.

“Also, my mother and father, Cornell and Paulette, they have been very supportive.”

Asked what advice she would give to anyone aspiring to become a lawyer, she said: “Have a plan and stick by it.”