The late Michael Bruney will be remembered as one who was serious in upholding the traditions of the Court. This is the view of the president of the Dominica Bar Association (DBA), Heather Felix-Evans.
She made the remarks as members of the legal fraternity mourn the loss of Bruney who departed this life on Wednesday, 24th June 2020 after a brief battle with cancer.
“He was very much into the traditions of the legal profession in terms of court courtesy. He was serious about how you address a judge, how you speak in court, how you address the court. If you wanted to bring something to the attention of a judge outside of the courtroom, what is the proper protocol that one must follow? He was very firm and tried at all times to maintain these traditions,” she said as she remembered the former president of the Bar Association.
Apart from his deep views with regards to the preservation of the Court protocols, the legal fraternity she said would remember him as a generous colleague and one with a fine personality.
“I knew him for a very long time. However, when I became a member of the legal fraternity I got to know him better. Mikey was a very personable person. He was sound in his knowledge of the law and analysis of the law.
“But what was most striking about Mickey was that he was very generous with his knowledge of the law and with sharing his experiences. He was very humorous. He saw the humor in everything. When things got a bit tense he would always resort to humor to diffuse the situation.
“The expressions from members of the Bar Association were all consistent with the type of person that he was. He was very concerned about junior counsels and bridging the gap between junior and senior counsels, in terms of their years of experience.
According to the Bar Association president, Bruney, who served as a magistrate from 2011 to 2020, distinguished himself on the Bench.
“The overwhelming view of our members is that he was a magistrate who got things going and made sure that the cases went through the system quickly and fairly. When he did civil matters, he always sought to get the parties to resolve their matter out of court and that was a very good thing about him.
“He encouraged lawyers to be civil with each other. He was a big proponent of civility among members of the Bar. He had firm views and he sought to bring them out in a very non-offensive and subtle way. His opinions and his views were always well articulated.
“He will be greatly missed. It was a very somber time in terms of when we spoke about him. He definitely will be missed. We will try to honor him and honor the things that he held dear such as the traditions of the profession. The legal profession has lost a dynamic person,” she remarked. Duncan Stowe describes the late Michael Bruney “as a people’s person”. He certainly had the ability to connect and converse at all levels. He was the kind of person who could walk with kings but never lost the common.
“As a lawyer, he was very knowledgeable on the law, very sharp at identifying issues. To my mind, he had a soft heart for representing the ordinary man. He was always keen on ensuring seeking justice,” Stowe said.
While he never appeared Bruney as a magistrate, Stowe said that he believed that if he (Bruney) was to err in any of his judgments he would have erred on the side of justice.”