Christopher Livingstone Samuda is an Attorney-at-Law by profession and was admitted to the Jamaican Bar in 1986 having gained a Bachelor of Laws Degree with Upper Second Class Honours from the University of the West Indies, Mona, in 1984 and the Certificate of Legal Education from the Norman Law School in 1986.

He is a founding partner of the Law Firm, Samuda & Johnson, where he is the Marketing Partner and heads the firm’s Housing & Real Estate Department and the Intellectual Property, Patent & Trademarks Department.

His legal practice and areas of expertise include Sport and Entertainment; Intellectual Property and Copyright; Patents and Trade Marks; Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution; Commercial and Corporate Transactions; and Real Estate. He has acted in major hotel and business acquisitions, represented and advises  local and international interests in the Sport, Music and Entertainment Industries, many insurance interests and developers in major projects.

A company adviser and consultant with a successful career spanning over twenty-five  (25) years, four (4) continents and innumerable industries, Mr. Samuda is a former Council Member of the Jamaica Bar Association.

PUBLIC SERVICE AND VOLUNTARY SERVICE

Committed to public service, Mr. Samuda devotes much of his time to voluntary service.

The Sporting Arena

In the sporting arena, he currently serves as:

• a Member of the Executive Board of Centro Caribe Sports formerly the Central America and Caribbean Sport Organization (C.A.C.S.O.) which hosts the Central America and Caribbean (C.A.C.) Games;
• President of the Jamaica Olympic Association (J.O.A.);
• Jamaica’s primary delegate to the Association of National Olympic Committees (A.N.O.C.), the Pan American Sport Association (P.A.S.O.), the Commonwealth Games Federation (C.G.F.) and the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CA.N.O.C.);
• President of the Jamaica Paralympic Association (J.P.A) and Jamaica’s primary delegate to the International Paralympic Committee, the world governing body for Paralympic sport and to the Americas Paralympic Committee (A.P.C.) the regional apex body;
• Chairman of the Jamaica Paralympic Foundation(J.P.F.);
• President of the Jamaica Disabled Cricket Association (J.A.D.C.A.);
• President of the Lega Commission of Centro Caribe Sports
• a member of the Judicial Commission of World ParaVolley
• a member of the Ethics Commission of the Pan American Sports Organisation (P.A.S.O.);
• a member of the Juridical Committee of the Caribbean Association of National Committees (C.A.N.O.C.);
• Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Jamaica Fencing Federation (J.F.F.);
• Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of SwimJamaica;
• a member of the National Sport Council from 2013;
• a founding Partner of the Business of Sport which hosts the Business of Sport International Conference in Kingston Jamaica; and
• the Attorney-at-Law for several sport associations and clubs

Major Sporting Achievements

• Chaired the National Sports Council’s Athlete Development and Well-Being Committee that spearheaded and was directly responsible for the successful implementation of the historic National Health Insurance Plan for national athletes.
• A member of the task group that worked on the National Sport Policy and was a member of a two-man team that finalised and presented it to sport Associations and Federations and stakeholders.
• Incorporated and operationalised the Jamaica Paralympic Association and spearheaded it becoming a member of the International Paralympic Committee (I.P.C.) and the Americas Paralympic Committee (A.P.C.), the global and regional governing bodies respectively  for Paralympic sports.
• Introduced para rowing, para fencing, para powerlifting and para taekwondo as disciplines to local para sports.
• Established Jamaica as a qualifying meet location for track and field qualification to international events hosted by the International Paralympic Committee (I.P.C.).
• A member of a three member team that revised the Constitution of (C.A.N.O.C.).
• Keynote speaker and presenter on several occasions to local and overseas audiences on leadership, sport governance and management, the business of sport, sport branding and marketing,  managing talent and intellectual property, corporate and strategic planning and sport tourism and entertainment.

Chef de Mission for Jamaica’s Paralympic Team to the 2011 Para Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the Director in Charge of its team to the 2012 London Paralympic Games and the 2013 Lyon World Para Athletics Championships

Corporate Profile

Mr. Samuda is lead adviser to several Jamaican and Caribbean commercial entities and serves as Chairman of St. Khrisstopher Music Limited and the Chairman of Strategic Corporate Interventions Limited.

He has presented on topics including sport and entertainment law, corporate law and governance; the business of sport and entertainment; management of talent and intellectual property; financial products and services of credit unions; and the value of the creative industries to a developing society.

Mr. Samuda has had the honour of being the featured speaker and presenter at various events in Jamaica, throughout the Caribbean and Europe.

The Education Field

In the field of education, the following have been Mr. Samuda’s achievements:

-the Immediate Pass Chairman of the School Board of his alma mater Wolmer’s Boys’ School one of the oldest secondary schools in the Caribbean;

-a member of the Board of Management of the Wolmer’s Schools for Boys and Girls; and

-the Former Deputy Chairman of the Hydell University College.

Mr. Samuda served as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Media Technology Institute (M.T.I.) from 2007 to 2016.

The Creative and Performing Arts

In the creative and performing arts, Mr. Samuda is currently:

-The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Chorale of Jamaica (N.C.J.)

He is a former Chairman of the Creative Production and Training Centre (C.P.T.C.) a government-owned film and production house and served in that capacity from 2007 to 2016.

He also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (J.C.D.C.)  from 2014 to 2016

THE CORPORATE WORLD

Mr. Samuda is and has been the lead adviser to several Jamaican and Caribbean corporate and commercial entities and chairs and sit on the boards of private companies.

Corporate Positions Held

Mr. Samuda has held corporate positions including:

-President of the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions (C.C.C.U.), from 2004 to 2007, which apex body has oversight responsibility for all English credit unions in the Caribbean region and also Guyana and Belize;

-The Caribbean’s delegate to the World Council of Credit Unions (W.O.C.C.U.) from 2004 to 2006;

-President of the Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League Limited (J.C.C.U.L.) from 2004 to 2007;

-President of GSB Co-operative Credit Union Limited (now First Heritage Co-operative Credit Union) from 2000 to 2006;

-Chairman of the Credit Union Fund Management Company (CUFMC) from 2004 to 2006;

To date, Mr. Samuda has the distinction of being the only Jamaican and indeed Caribbean credit union executive to have served simultaneously as President of the governing bodies of the Caribbean and Jamaica as well as a local credit union.

-Chairman of the Fair Trading Commission (F.T.C.), 2012 to 2016;

-Co-Chair of the Peoples’ Energy Vision Programme, sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank;

-Deputy Chairman of  Jamaica’s Copyright Tribunal; and

-Chairman of the Legal Committee, Government Rationalisation Programme, 2008 to 2011