“Fearless, caring, trailblazer.” That is how former president of the Assembly of Southern Lawyers Merlin Boyce described her former college-mate Dana Seetahal, SC, who was shot dead on Sunday. While there is much talk about the way Seetahal was murdered, the teary-eyed Boyce remember the former independent senator and Law Association president for her work in inspiring other attorneys and the country. Speaking at her office at Basil Jack Building, Harris Promenade, San Fernando, yesterday, Boyce managed to smile as she reminisced about their days at the University of the West Indies’ Faculty of Law at Cave Hill, Barbados. “I always felt Dana had more testicular fortitude than a lot of the men that I have come across. Her work was like her religion and she did a lot. “Long ago, locally-trained lawyers were stigmatised. ‘Locally assembled’ we were called, so she did a lot to change people’s perception of locally-trained lawyers. “I think the loss is not just to the nation, it is to the region. I think Dana is the quintessential feminine achiever. I’ll not call her a feminist but a female who excelled,” Boyce said.
She said Seetahal studied among the likes of herself, former NAR minister Joseph Toney, former UNC senator Deborah Moore-Miggins, former magistrate Joan Eversley-Gill and a cadre of prominent Caribbean attorneys. Asked whether Seetahal’s death would affect the many high profile cases she was involved in Boyce said there were other lawyers capable of carrying on the work. Noting the tension between Seetahal and Israel Khan SC during the last Law Association elections, she said: “In one of my recent conversations with her, I told her I was grateful for the fact that she and Israel had to work together on this Coolman case as it would have gone a long way to improving the relationship between them,” Boyce said. Explaining her personal relationship with Seetahal, she said, “I always compared our lives because I always thought that she represented everything I could have been in the profession. She was my hero, she always supported me, she was always an inspiration.
“In 1976 while we were at Cave Hill in Barbados, I became pregnant and I felt like dropping out of school, and between Dana and Joan Eversley-Gill, they said they were not allowing me to do that and they promised me they were going to help me. “They lent me their notes to assist me so that I could have passed my exams at the same level they did. I was particularly grateful to her for that. She was partially responsible for my academic achievements.” As the memories continued, Boyce even recalled Seetahal’s signature dance of her younger days, called the “Dana Strut,” which became popular at Cave Hill when Seetahal contested the post of chairperson of the campus’ cultural committee. She also remembered, Seetahal’s expertise in whipping up a meal of sada roti and curry every time they would tune into coverage of the West Indies cricket team in action. Commenting on the manner in which Seetahal was killed, she said, “I think it was extremely ironic because Dana had acted in several very high profile cases. “Yes, there were times when there were concerns about her safety and she was provided with security in the past but she did not think that anything like this would have happened to her. She was always someone who took life in stride and I don’t think that she would have cowered to anybody.”