Marissa Longsworth was born in Jamaica, and is a naturalized Belizean. She is an Attorney-at-Law with over 10 years’ overall experience in practice in Belize and previously in Jamaica. Apart from general practice areas, her specializations are Internet Law, which includes E-Commerce, E-Governance, and Telecommunications Policy, as well as Intellectual Property Law. She is also a Notary Public and a Court-Connected Arbitrator for Belize. She will serve as a Deputy Chairperson on the Cayman Islands Government's 'Trade Mark Appeals', 'Design Rights' and 'Copyright' tribunals until 2024.  She is appointed by the Government of Canada as the Honorary Consul of Canada resident in Belize.

 

Miss Longsworth is the Immediate Past President of the Belize Chamber of Commerce & Industry (the BCCI) for the 2022-2024 term. She has been with the BCCI’s Executive since 2016, first as a Councilor, then as Vice President of Services, and then as President.

 

She attended high school (St. Catherine Academy) and received her Associate’s Degree at St. John’s College Junior College in Belize City. A graduate of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Faculty of Law with Honours, she went on to complete a Master of Laws degree with Merit specializing in Internet Law & Policy in 2014 from Strathclyde University based in Glasgow, Scotland. She is certified in Intellectual Property Management and Advanced Copyright & Related Rights from the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and has served as a Consultant to WIPO for projects in Trinidad & Tobago and Belize. She has also consulted on regional and national intellectual property projects through the Caribbean Export Development Agency, the Government of Belize and NGOs.

 

For five years prior to beginning her own law practice, she was the In-House Attorney for CILGlobal IP Limited, which specializes in intellectual property management services. She was also a consulting attorney with CILGlobal IP's affiliated law firm during that time. She also has work experience in Jamaica having worked with the Gleaner Company (Media) Limited in their legal department and as a tutor at the Faculty of Law of the University of the West Indies. She also spent almost 3 years as the Manager of the Copyright & Related Rights Directorate at the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), a statutory body of the Government of Jamaica.