New Lawyers Admitted To Bar
New lawyer John Jainendra Prasad, originally from Labasa, attributes his success to spiritual discipline.
The 27-year-old former President of the University of the South Pacific (USP) Law Students Association was one of 20 who were admitted to the bar yesterday in front of friends and family at the High Court in Suva. Celebrating his achievement, Mr Prasad said being an active youth member of Holy Hand, a Christian church, with strong spiritual teachings, kept him firmly grounded throughout his studies.
“Spiritual discipline taught me to remain humble, to work hard, to be fair and to prioritise things. A lot of times people get distracted when they move to the big city and when I came to Suva in 2015, I made sure that I chose friends that would positively influence me and did away with those that had a negative influence on me,” he said.
The son of a casual labourer and a housemaid, Mr Prasad said his inspiration has always been his mother, Anjanline Kumari. “I promised my mother that she does not have to work anymore as a house maid once I start working. My mother has always been my inspiration and I am what I am today because of her.” After secondary school Mr Prasad began his legal studies in 2010, but dropped out of school after one year because of financial constraints. “I was not able to complete my studies then because at the time Government was not sponsoring law students, so I worked for four years and I managed to save enough money to pay part of my studies when I resumed in 2015,” he said. His dream to give back to the community led Mr Prasad to take up work as a volunteer Legal Officer with the Legal Aid Commission. His aim is to serve and give back to the country.
“I chose law because I saw there were injustices and people were struggling.
“There were a lot of broken families in the community that I came from and children suffered because of that.
“I want to make a difference in whatever little way I can.”
Mr Prasad is the first lawyer in his family and is the middle child of three siblings.
He also shared that after moving from Labasa to Suva to resume his studies he had to juggle three jobs to pay his way through law school.