Lunge begins new chapter as a lawyer

By SCHOLAR KASSAS
JAMES Lunge believes that if you have a passion for something, just do it.
Give it all your heart and soul and your best efforts, he says, because at the end of the day you will be happy with the results.
Lunge used that motto in his line of studies and graduated with flying colours from the Legal Training Institute (LTI).
The 27-year-old Ambukanja villager from Yangoru, East Sepik graduated with honours from University of Papua New Guinea Law School in July and received the Supreme Court Award (dux) from LTI last month.
He said his achievement was the result of hard work.
“Personally, when I see other people do work I always want to put in extra effort into the work I do and that has paid off for me.”
Lunge completed his primary education at the Yangoru Assemblies of God Primary School in 2010 and continued at Jubilee Catholic Secondary in Port Moresby from 2011 to 2014.
“I wanted to study law when I began my secondary education but in grade 11 due to the urging of my parents I took up science.
“In 2015, I was selected to undertake a bachelor of engineering in mining at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology.”
Lunge said while at Unitech, he had become a member of the Voice Inc and participated in its activities which inspired him to pursue his dream of becoming a lawyer.
He withdrew from his studies at Unitech after his first year and took a gap year in 2016, when he applied to the School of Law at the University of Papua New Guinea.
In 2017, he was accepted at UPNG.
“It was the biggest challenge I took to switch universities from Unitech to UPNG, I had a lot of internal conflicts but after the switch it was a decision I never regretted making.”
In the second year of his studies at UPNG, he was elected the class representative and held the role up until he graduated from UPNG and again took the role at LTI.
In Feb 2019, he was fortunate to be employed part-time as a librarian with international firm Ashurst at its Port Moresby office.
While at the university, he was an active member of Voice Inc, a dynamic youth development organisation that runs programmes at UPNG, Unitech and UOG, and throughout the country, through its Clean Generation Campaign. He was part of some of its activities.
Lunge said in his final year of studies, he was privileged to be selected as a recipient of the Kokoda Track Foundation’s Archer Scholarship.

“ Personally, when I see other people do work I always want to put in extra effort into the work I do and that has paid off for me.”

He’s currently an alumni of the Archer Leadership Development Programme.
Last year he was selected to the PNG Legal Training Institute after completing his law degree.
After six months at LTI, he was admitted to the Bar last month as a certified practising lawyer in the National and Supreme Courts.
Lunge was attached to Ashurst and after his admission as a lawyer, his role at the firm changed from librarian to lawyer.
Working at Ashurst has been a great exposure and experience for him, he said.
“I am grateful to the partners and my colleagues for the experience and look forward to further learning and growth in my career.”
Lunge acknowledged his parents, family and friends who had supported him in his education journey.
“One chapter of my life closes and I am looking forward to the next,” he said.
His father, Andrew Lunge was also one of the proudest parent among hundreds of parents witnessing his son admitted to the Bar.