Gillian finds the balance

HOW attorney at law Gillian Seecharan-Scott managed to keep her soprano singing talent under wraps is beyond me, but truth be told, she has got a fabulous voice. The single mother of three and “competent attorney” who specialises in family and civil cases has been a member of the Marionettes Chorale for over 20 years. Her 11-year-old daughter, Gabrielle, is a member of the Marionettes Youth choir. In an interview at the Seecharan-Scott Cham-bers in Warner Street, Newtown, Port-of-Spain, the sharply-dressed and eloquent lawyer spoke of the joys of pursuing a career she dreamed of and balancing it with some of her passions — among them motherhood.

The singing was inherent. “Actually, law is my second choice. My first choice would have been an opera singer. But it was a financial decision. I didn’t have the means to facilitate that study,” said Gillian. Born to soprano singer, Holitzia of Curacao, who possessed credentials from the Royal School of Music, Gillian could not evade her calling. “When the opera society was active I used to accompany my mother to rehearsals with the Marionettes and sit and listen.” Her father, however, branded his own style of machismo in song.  “I understand that when they had just met, my father wooed her with his singing. He imagined he was Johnny Mathis.” Gillian is also the big sister of Jason “Fride” Seecharan of H2O Phlo. “Jason is my teddy bear. We discovered how much we loved and supported each other during the two years that my mother was bedridden.” Holitzia died in 2003 after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Both her parents were educators and hard workers. And although her mother expressed the desire for Gillian to pursue becoming a doctor, “I decided on law, but that was my dream.” She studied at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus and completed her training at Hugh Wooding Law School. She delved right into the profession and was taken under the wings of former Attorney General and TT High Commissioner to England, Glenda Morean. Maybe Gillian has set her sights on also becoming Attorney General one day? She answered: “I don’t have those ambitions. I think because of the demands of public office I would shy away at this time. I have many passions that consume me, for example, I am a volunteer of the Mizpeh Halfway House in Sangre Grande, I am also a board member of the Patrons of Queen’s Hall and my children need to have quality time with me. The public office demands sacrifice of your time and personal agenda and you (someone seeking that office) should be consumed with service of the people.”

Gillian also stages musical productions, the last being “Expressions of Love” — a full production of dance, drama and poetry. She has worked closely with professional singers Eddie Cumberbatch, her leading man; Enrique Ali, Ancil St Hilaire, Mike Germaine and Felix Roach. On April 1, Gillian will join the Marionettes and other accomplished singers in hosting a benefit concert in aid of Enrique Ali who is currently abroad seeking medical treatment.
Gillian also recorded a 12-track Gospel album entitled For His Glory. Up to Wednesday, late evening, Gillian was rehearsing with the choir, her dose of “therapy.” She was groomed by Marionettes Chorale conductor Greta Taylor, also choir mistress while Gillian attended St Joseph’s Convent, Port-of-Spain.

Work, rehearsals and home is her customary routine. Even though she holds the forte at home, she said, her husband stills plays an active role in the lives of her children. “I think if we encourage the male to be an active participant in children’s lives we see a balance. Even if there is an absence of the father, there should be strong male figures and that helps in the development of the male child.” Emmanuel, her nine-year-old, is the “happy-go-lucky, bright in his own way” son. “He keeps us laughing and helps us all to maintain a sense of humour in life. Lemuel is super-brainy and Gabrielle is the artsy one.” At home, they keep her occupied. “How do I do it. I pray. And sometimes when it feels overwhelming I take time out and take stock and then I re-prioritise.” They even call her “boring” since her favourite shows are Law and Order and any and every TV courtroom programme.
Gillian refrained from “selling” her practice or highlighting the number of cases she has won in her nine years as lawyer because of the lawyer’s “code of ethics.” However, she cleverly quipped: “I am a competent attorney. I have been exposed to quite a volume of litigation and I have been quite successful.” She observed that more women were entering the field of law and reasoned that the “matriarch” was spending less time with her sons and was “forgetting to balance the scale of also telling one’s son to work hard to provide for himself, his mate and family.” She wants to include in her practice “mediation, a form of dispute resolution. I am also becoming interested with child advocacy, so that child has his or her own voice in custody battles.

“I think (as attorneys) we would all want clients who are informed, to whom we can account for our conduct of their matter, transparency of the process, to get the best possible representation, open communication between client and attorney, and a court system that is effective and efficient where the process is honed so that there is the assurance of what happens next in the process. “I would like for my children to maximise their full potential. Each person is born with a gift. The quest of each individual is to acknowledge it. My role as a parent is to help them identify the gift and provide the avenue for development of those gifts so that they can be the best that they can be. “I also want them to grow with the knowledge that they are loved. I never doubted that my mother loved me even when there were wars.”