Archives: Partners

John joined the Firm in September 2017 as an Associate in the Litigation Department and was appointed as a Partner in January 2025. He practices as both an advocate and instructing attorney in a wide range of civil matters including corporate and commercial litigation, judicial review and constitutional claims, property and pension matters.

He also advises the Firm’s clients on all aspects of employment law and industrial relations including restructuring and retrenchment exercises and represents clients in a variety of trade disputes at the Industrial Court.

John has been involved in several transactions with respect to the transboundary movement of hazardous waste under the Basel Convention and maintains a practice in maritime law, advising clients on all aspects on this area of the law including the arrest of vessels and cargo and insurance claims relating to ships and cargo.

John tutored Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus and volunteers at a Legal Aid Clinic.

John enjoys traveling in his spare time. He is also an avid sports fan and amateur musician.

Simonne Jaggernauth-Clarke was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2011 and the Bar of Trinidad and Tobago in 2012 and became Partner in January, 2025.

After spending four years in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions where she gained valuable exposure as a State prosecutor and advocate, Simonne joined the Firm’s Litigation Department in 2016.

Simonne now practices as both an instructing and advocate attorney in the High Court and Court of Appeal in a variety of civil matters including complex corporate and commercial litigation, judicial review, personal injury, defamation, and negligence.

She is also a key member of the Firm’s Tax Department providing legal advice on a range of tax matters including double taxation, VAT, and withholding tax. Simonne regularly represents both local and international clients in negotiations with the Board of Inland Revenue and before the Tax Appeal Board in contentious appeals on assessments made by the Board of Inland Revenue.

As part of her revenue law practice, Simonne also provides advice on Customs and Excise matters and appears on behalf of clients in internal proceedings before the Customs and Excise Division.

Simonne has also contributed to various publications on tax matters including those related to the energy sector.

Simonne is an avid football fan who enjoys swimming, reading and travelling.

Stephanie joined the Firm as an Associate in 2014 where she was active in both the Litigation and Intellectual Property Departments gaining considerable exposure to a variety of commercial, banking, trademark and copyright matters.

Stephanie now leads the Firm’s Intellectual Property Department, while also maintaining a litigation portfolio. She utilizes her litigation background to complement her intellectual property practice by counselling clients on all aspects of IP protection. This includes trademark and copyright enforcement, counterfeit goods and border enforcement, trademark selection and filing strategies, trademark prosecution, unfair competition, patent and industrial designs prosecution.

From a commercial standpoint, she regularly advises clients on making strategic decisions about intellectual property asset management. This includes advising on IP licenses, assignments, franchise and distribution agreements. Stephanie also advises on advertising laws as well as product registrations in Trinidad and Tobago.

She represents clients regionally and internationally in the food and beverage, technology, financial services, fashion and entertainment industries.

Stephanie is a member of the Intellectual Property Caribbean Association (IPCA), the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance (GALA) and the International Trademark Association (INTA) where she currently serves on INTA’s Young Practitioners Committee.

When not at work, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her family and friends and maintaining an active lifestyle.

Lesley-Ann was admitted to practice as an attorney-at-law in 2012. She joined the Firm as an Associate in 2015 where she provided support to the Partners across all departments and became a Partner in the Commercial Department in 2024.

Lesley-Ann has an active practice in general corporate and commercial law, with a focus on advising international and local clients in the energy (including renewables), oil & gas and minerals industries, given her keen interest in these areas. Prior to joining the Firm, Lesley-Ann gained valuable experience in the public sector assisting with a variety of issues across the energy value chain including downstream project development, as well as advising on matters in the minerals sector.

As part of her energy practice, Lesley-Ann has conducted several due diligence exercises and has experience with upstream concessions, energy related contracts, project development, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions, among other things. Additionally, she advises on a variety of corporate and commercial law issues including insolvency and pensions, and regularly assists with corporate registrations and regulatory/compliance requirements.

Given the nature of Lesley-Ann’s practice, she frequently liaises with various local regulators including the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries and the Companies Registry, as well as personnel in several state enterprises that operate in the energy sector.

Lesley-Ann has also contributed to publications concerning the Trinidad and Tobago energy sector over the years.

In her spare time, Lesley-Ann enjoys caring for her family dogs, travelling and has recently developed an interest in gardening.

Suella was admitted to the Trinidad and Tobago Bar in November 2012. She joined Fitzwilliam, Stone, Furness-Smith & Morgan in January 2013 and became a Partner in the Firm’s Real Estate and Probate Departments in 2020.

She commenced her practice in the Firm’s Conveyancing and Litigation Departments where she assisted with various land transactions and was an Instructing Attorney in extensive property related litigation.

Currently, she handles a wide range of property transactions including the negotiation of agreements for sale of land and the preparation of conveyances, assignments, mortgages, commercial and residential leases and transfers.

Suella regularly represents major financial and lending institutions in financing land transactions relating to housing and commercial developments. Her clientele includes property developers and commercial entities for whom she acts in complex condominium type developments. She also frequently assists both local and foreign clients in buying and selling property in Trinidad and Tobago. Apart from her Real Estate portfolio, Suella is also involved in the Firm’s Probate and Estates practice.

Suella is national of St. Lucia. She enjoys keeping active, travelling and dining out with friends and family.

Danielle Inglefield was admitted to practice as an attorney-at-law in Trinidad and Tobago in 2010.  She joined the Firm that year as an Associate in the Litigation Department and became a Partner in 2018.

She practices as an instructing attorney in civil matters and regularly instructs in matters before the High Court and Court of Appeal.  She has significant experience in handling complex, multi-party litigation, and regularly acts as attorney on record instructing both Junior Counsel and Senior and King’s Counsel.  She has also instructed Counsel before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Apart from her active litigation portfolio Danielle also provides her clients with advice on diverse areas of civil law including construction law, contracts, employment issues, land disputes and other areas of commercial law.

Danielle has a deep appreciation for good food, good wine and good company. She enjoys yoga and is a passionate supporter of FC Barcelona.

Kaveeta joined the Firm in September 2009 and is a Partner in the Firm’s Litigation Department. She acts as Instructing Attorney in a wide variety of matters, ranging from commercial debt collection, breach of contract, mortgagee actions, personal injury, contentious probate, medical negligence, judicial review, insurance, employment and property matters. As an experienced Instructing Attorney, Kaveeta is responsible for drafting and filing court documents for High Court, Court of Appeal and Privy Council matters, preparing legal briefs, managing court deadlines, legal research and providing legal advice to her clients, who include local, international and multinational corporations, banking institutions, airlines, insurance companies, small businesses and individuals. Kaveeta has also been successful in reaching satisfactory negotiated out-of-court settlements for her clients.

Kaveeta leads the Firm’s Immigration Law portfolio which involves advising on and processing work permit applications and related issues for expatriate employees of local and foreign companies, residency applications, immigration issues, such as extensions of stay for foreign nationals and immigration bond applications.

Kaveeta also works in the Firm’s Commercial Department and has advised on pension plan issues, corporate registrations, data protection, privacy and other regulatory and statutory enactments.

Kaveeta’s educational background in Economics/Management informs her practice and ensures that she provides her clients with real-world, practical advice and effective and viable solutions in their litigation matters. Kaveeta’s motivation is to always provide efficient and quality service to her clients in as timely a manner as possible.

Kaveeta is a keen reader, loves movies and travels whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Jon Paul is a Senior Partner in the Firm’s Commercial Department and also serves as the Head of the Firm’s Energy and Tax Departments. While active in both the Litigation and Commercial Departments in the earlier parts of his career, he now focuses on commercial work, with the exception of tax, where he maintains a thriving tax litigation portfolio. His practice now primarily focuses on energy, foreign investment, industrial projects, M&A and tax law.

His clients include international and local companies involved in upstream oil and gas, petrochemicals, industrial and manufacturing processes, power generation (gas powered and renewable), fuel trading, quarrying, energy services and local conglomerates operating in various sectors.

Jon Paul has just under two decades of experience in the energy, tax and commercial sectors. He regularly advises on energy related matters across the value chain, whether it be upstream, midstream, downstream or service related. He also regularly advises on both contentious and non-contentious tax matters and represents both local and international clients before the Tax Appeal Board with respect to appeals against assessments made by the Board of Inland Revenue. His practice also involves advising on industrial regulation (including HSE matters), joint ventures, M&A transactions and other commercial/corporate matters.

Jon Paul’s work often involves significant interface with personnel at various Government ministries and bodies, including in particular, the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, the Board of Inland Revenue and several State Enterprises and he enjoys a good working relationship with the various personnel at these State institutions and companies.

Jon Paul is also recognized in Chambers Global, World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, having first been recognized while he was still an Associate. He is a firm believer in developing person to person client relationships and in providing clear and pragmatic advice in a timely fashion. He is also an avid reader, surfer and hiker.

Cynetta was admitted to practice as an Attorney-at-Law in Trinidad and Tobago in 2003 and joined the Firm in that year as an Associate in the Firm’s Litigation Department where she practiced as an instructing attorney and was exposed to multiple areas of general civil law practice. Cynetta has always had a keen interest in corporate/commercial work and shortly after joining the Firm also became active in the Firm’s Commercial Department, thereby amassing over twenty (20) years’ experience in this area.

She was made Partner in 2010 and has an active corporate/commercial practice where she is regularly involved in advising on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, incorporations and other registrations, regulatory and compliance issues as well as securities law, insurance law, pensions law and employment law.

Her clients include both large multinational and local companies involved in multiple areas of industry, banks, insurance companies and other international, regional and local financial institutions. She has acted in a number of cross-border transactions and liaises on a regular basis with a number of local regulators including the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago and the Trinidad and Tobago Securities Exchange Commission.

Cynetta is committed to providing sound, accurate and incisive advice to her clients in an expeditious manner.  She is the holder of a degree in Economics, a first-class degree in Law from the University of the West Indies and graduated on the Principal’s Roll of Honour at the Hugh Wooding Law School.

Cynetta is passionate about corporate/commercial law and she has facilitated Corporate Law Clinics for Year II students of the Hugh Wooding Law School. She also sits on Boards of educational and religious organisations.

Vishma was called to the bar in 1999. Vishma’s areas of practice are corporate and commercial law, including commercial litigation, and employment law.

She is regularly involved in complex commercial transactions including corporate restructurings (including asset and share purchase transactions) and advising on a myriad of employment law issues. She also advises on and drafts almost every species of commercial contract (such as PPP’s, distribution contracts, employment contracts and building contracts (using the FIDIC and other forms of contract)).

Vishma is the Firm’s Lead Attorney/Partner  in  advising  and representing the Firm’s clients which includes multinational clients including in  the oil and gas and aviation sector as well as statutory corporations in all employment and industrial  relations matters including advising  and managing reorganizations including  retrenchment  exercises and voluntary separation of employment programmes (in unionized and non-unionized  environments) and  drafting relevant documents to implement such exercises.

Vishma also maintains a robust practice at the Industrial Court for  corporate clients including multinational clients in the oil and gas sector well as statutory corporations defending   trade disputes.

Vishma is also the Firm’s Lead Attorney in  drafting, negotiating and advising  clients on Construction Contracts including the FIDIC suite of contracts.

Vishma is the holder of a degree in Sociology and of a first-class degree in Law from the University of the West Indies and of a Certificate of Merit from the Council of Legal Education.

Vishma offers out-of-the box and innovative solutions to complex client problems, whilst staying true to sound intellectual foundations. She is known among her peers and clients alike to be methodical and meticulous in her work and for her “always get it right” credo.