President of the Dominica Bar Association (DBA), Heather Felix-Evans, is among those paying glowing tribute to the late lawyer Michael Bruney who departed this life on Wednesday, 24th June 2020 after a brief battle with cancer.
Felix-Evans describes the late Bruney as “a serious man in upholding the traditions of the Court.”
According to her, Bruney 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.
She said Bruney was also a former president of the DBA and at the time of his passing, was an executive member.
She remarked that apart from his strong views with regard to the preservation of the court protocols, he was 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,” Felix-Evans noted. “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 counsel and bridging the gap between junior and senior counsel, in terms of their years of experience,” she stated.
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,” Felix-Evans said.
She went on to say that Bruney encouraged lawyers to be civil with each other, was “a big proponent” of civility among members of the Bar and had firm views but sought to bring them out in a subtle, non-offensive and well-articulated way.
“He will be greatly missed. It was a very sombre time in terms of when we spoke about him. He definitely will be missed,” Felix-Evans remarked. “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.”
Meantime, attorney at law Duncan Stowe describes the late Michael Bruney “as a people’s person” who had the ability to connect and converse at all levels, the kind of person who could walk with kings but never lost the common touch.
“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…seeking justice,” Stowe said.
I will say this about the late Magistrate, Mr. Mickey Bruney. It didn’t matter how long you hadn’t been in contact, his approach was always candid and willing once he could and it was legal. “When it’s time to lime you lime, but when it’s time to work your approach must be serious”, that was our introduction that he appreciated with me as we spoke by our good friend Mr.Allan Paul then residing in Antigua. He said that he admired persons who don’t mix the two. This has resonated with me ever since and that meeting had made this practice a principle of my character. Even there I did not know he was an attorney, but I recognized that he had principle even if he could easily hang out. That was in the 90s. Fast forward to 2020 and I manage to get his contact information… WhatsApp him to attend my cousin Mr. Nick Waldron funeral as I couldn’t make it, and he is equally willing to do this favor and attend to his fellow neighbor of Checkhall interment. A few more months pass and on…
Your descriptions are on point. He was one of my teachers at Dominica Grammar School in the late 1970s to early 1980s.
Michael Bruney will be so terribly missed not least by Angel Andrew’s And myself Amanda Brigdale for whom Michael worked for 12 years finally resolving Angel’s case and winning 2 appeals in CCJ. A wonderful man of integrity, wisdom and empathy. His sense of humour was a pure delight which he used to de-fuse awkward or inflammatory situations. Our distress and shock at Michaels passing runs deep. We did not get the chance to thank him but We hope he knows our gratitude is boundless. Our heartfelt sympathies go to his much respected colleagues and family. Thank you Mikey from the bottom of our hearts, you enchiched our lives..
Rest in Eternal Peace. Angel & Amanda
On a couple occasions I remembered having brief conversations with him just outside the DBS building when he worked there back in the late seventies. He was a cool cat. What impressed me most was his “Dateline Dominica” each morning at seven. He had that radio voice to let it all out. Somewhat close to Dennis’s. But not the real Dennis Joseph.