by Derrick Scott
LOS ANGELES – Prominent health attorney in Los Angeles, California, Jamaican Joy Stephenson-Laws, has been appointed Jamaica’s new Honorary Consul in Los Angeles.
Mrs Stephenson -Laws received her appointment and writ of commission from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith on the 7th of February this year.
The new Honorary Consul who hails from Sherwood Content in Trelawny, Jamaica will be commissioned by Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Audrey Marks at a special installation ceremony on March 14, in Los Angeles, California.
Ms. Stephenson-Laws who emigrated to the United States over forty years ago earned a Bachelor of Arts from Loma Linda University and a Juris Doctor from Loyola University. She has spent her entire legal career addressing public benefit issues with a special emphasis on healthcare.
In her private avocation, Ms. Stephenson-Laws is founding and managing partner of Stephenson, Acquisto & Colman (SAC), a premier healthcare industry litigation firm. There, she leads a diverse team of more than 100 professionals including attorneys, doctors, nurses, technology and healthcare provider operations specialists.
The new Los Angeles Honorary Consul says her professional and personal lives have been dedicated to improving healthcare in the United States through consumer education, advocacy for healthcare providers and starting a healthcare-related philanthropy to encourage others to get involved in their communities.
“I am honoured to have been designated as one of Jamaica’s representatives here in the United States. I credit my attitude to life as well as any successes I have achieved in large part to the foundational underpinnings of my culture, ” Mrs Stephenson-Laws said.
“Specifically, I consider myself lucky to be influenced by a culture that focuses on the importance of education as a means to succeed in life as well as the recognition that cultural unity is an important ingredient in global success.
“So I look forward to doing my part in creating an even greater awareness about Jamaica and the opportunities that exist there as well as protect its citizens in the regions I am responsible for,” she declared.
Mrs. Stephenson-Laws, who succeeds, Lorna Johnson who demitted office in January, has been Chair of the Jamaica Awareness Association of California golf event, which raises money to support various philanthropic causes in Jamaica.
