SVG Bar excited about new member

The Bar is excited for their new addition Sorroni Bruce, to see her hone the legal skills she has sharpened over five years, and to help them with her fitness programme organization skills.

Bruce was one of four lawyers to be admitted to the Bar of St Vincent and the Grenadines on November 1 at the High Court.

She was supported in her application by counsel Julian Jack, who has known her since 2014, since she has worked at his chambers as an intern, and as a part time employee.

Jack was able to vouch for Bruce’s character before Justice Brian Cottle, saying “I have had ample opportunity in that time to see and understand her approach to the law, and how she wishes to approach the law now that she has completed her studies.”

The new attorney spent her five years, using three of these to obtain a Bachelor of Laws degree at the St Augustine campus, University of the West Indies (UWI), and two years to gain her legal education certificate at the Hugh Wooding Law School.

“I am of every conviction that with the course of study that she has pursued, she has become better equipped to be a member of this bar in St Vincent and the Grenadines and to of course understand, fore mostly, what is required of her,” as a lawyer in SVG, Jack said.

Lawyer Cecil Blazer Williams seconded Bruce’s presentation to be admitted, and stated that he had only had a brief encounter with her but had read background information on her. “The one bit that comes out to me is her ability to organize fitness programmes at the University of the West Indies,” he told Justice Cottle, asking President of the Bar Association, attorney René Baptiste, to take note.

“I believe she would be a great asset to the Bar Association,” Williams noted.

“The legal profession, as Ms Bruce will realize, is not just a matter of statutes and common law, that she will encounter very trying experiences, she will encounter situations which test her,” he said, adding that her experience with working will have given her many skills which would make her a good practitioner.

Justice Brian Cottle addressed Bruce after the administering of the oath, requesting of her that in between her difficult legal tasks, she may work with her colleagues at the Bar to engage in some form of physical activity.

“The fact is that many attorneys find themselves sitting at desks every day and don’t give any thought to getting the exercise that their body requires,” he told her, asking that she encourage them to lead a less sedentary lifestyle.

In her maiden address, Bruce noted that she decided to start keep fit programmes at UWI, because she noticed people around her suffering. She felt their bodies were deteriorating with bad eating habits, and that it was necessary not only to take care of the mind.

The young attorney has been running to reach her goal, keeping Psalm 23 in mind. However, she admits “I’ve fallen quite a bit,” while thanking her father Steven Bruce for helping her to get up every time.

She also thanked her parents, who have “have bruised their knees to ensure that they give thanks and praises to God,” and who taught her the same.

“Not only have they offered financial help, but they’ve also been the ones that have called when those days were hard, when I was at tears,” she stated, thanking her other family members as well.

She thanked those from Hugh Wooding law school, as well as the counsel that supported her.