The Tribune

FORMER Jamaican Prime Minister P J Patterson will be the keynote speaker at the Bahamas Press Club 2014 second annual media awards next month at the British Colonial Hilton.

The club announced this week details of the November 19 ceremony, at which 16 media professionals in the country will receive awards for their outstanding work, including a Lifetime Achievement Award and the Award for Best Talk Show.

The club said Mr Patterson is founder and president of HeisConsults, an international consulting firm headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica.

A lawyer by profession, he is widely recognised and respected for his knowledge, expertise and track record of achievement in the fields of the law, international negotiations, trade and development.

“A former prime minister of Jamaica and founder and partner of a thriving legal practice, he provides clients of HeisConsults with the benefit of an impressive, worldwide network of contacts developed through his many years of interface with world leaders in international politics, jurisprudence, multilateral financial and development institutions,” a release from the club said.

“The former senior Cabinet minister and head of government has a track record of engaging in complex and often thorny international negotiations as the representative of diverse groups of nations and bringing them to a successful conclusion.

“Called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1963, he enjoyed a thriving legal career in private practice in Jamaica and the Caribbean, winning judgments in some high profile and challenging landmark cases in his capacity as a lawyer for corporate and individual clients.

“In 1983, he was appointed a Queen’s Counsel.”

The black tie event will be in the Governor’s Ballroom of the Hilton under the patronage of Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling.