Legal Advisor recently appointed and already making waves

Michelline Nawatises





Memory Garises completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Namibia, where she obtained a Baccalaureus Juris degree in 2011 and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree in 2013. She had a keen interest in pursuing her career in the commercial law field and was sure that she wanted to work in the financial services industry.

While reading the local newspapers, Garises saw a bursary advertised by the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa). Having done her research on the reputable financial services regulator, she applied for and was awarded the Namfisa bursary. The bursary enabled her to further her postgraduate studies and in 2014 she graduated with a Master of Laws degree in Commercial Law and a Certificate in Compliance Management from the University of Cape Town.

In 2015, she was enrolled with the Justice Training Centre at the University of Namibia for theoretical training as a candidate legal practitioner and was appointed at Clement Daniels Attorneys (now FB Law Chambers) for her practical training in the same year. She is an admitted legal practitioner of the High Court of Namibia and a member of the Law Society of Namibia since 2016.

Garises started her professional working career as a trainee legal officer at Namfisa, in accordance with the requirements of the bursary agreement in 2016. During this period, she rotated within the Complaints and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Compliance, Capital Markets, Pension Funds and Friendly Societies, Insurance and Medical Aid Funds and Legal Services divisions of Namfisa. Garises was appointed at Namfisa on 1 June 2021 in the capacity of legal advisor in the Legal Services Division.

She was appointed as a legal officer in the Insurance and Medical Aid Funds Division in 2018. On 1 June 2021, she was appointed as a legal advisor in the Legal Services Division. Garises lectured Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Law of Evidence, on a part-time basis, in the law faculty of the University of Namibia during the period 2016 - 2018. She also lectured Commercial Law at the Namibia University of Science and Technology in 2018.

Garises was appointed on 11 May 2021 as a tutor/tutor marker at the Centre for Open, Distance and eLearning of the University of Namibia. She also tutors legal drafting to candidate legal practitioners in preparation for their justice training qualifying examinations. Garises also served as a member of the Ethics and Investigation Committee of the Law Society of Namibia in 2019.

The ambitious Garises is currently pursuing membership of the Institute of Commercial Forensic Practitioners and enrolled at the North-West University of South Africa for a short learning programme in commercial forensic investigation. The modules forming part of the course are commercial forensic accounting, commercial forensic information technology, commercial forensic investigation, commercial forensic law as well as commercial forensic practice and fraud risk management. She is currently also pursuing a certificate in insurance with the Chartered Institute of Insurers.

Garises is very adventurous, loves travelling and is always excited about experiencing the activities on her bucket list. Lastly, she is a firm believer in her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, loves people and loves serving in the local church, Christian Revival Church (CRC Windhoek).