The two newest members of the Bermuda Bar Association, Dominique Rivas and Tricia Warner, were inducted into the Island’s legal fraternity on Friday.

They were approved by Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons.

The packed courtroom included Mrs Warner’s husband, Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner.

Introducing Mrs Warner to the court following her pupillage at his Apex Law Chambers was lawyer Arthur Hodgson, who noted her background in medicine, adding: “She has far more qualifications than I have.”

Mr Hodgson also observed that he initially assumed Mrs Warner had chosen his chambers for her pupillage based on the acumen of the lawyers.

“In point of fact, she began her education in Trinidad at a school called the Veritas House of Prayer,” Mr Hodgson added, noting that his practice is housed in Veritas Place.

Mrs Warner holds not only a Bachelors of Laws but a Masters of Laws, he added.

“I’ve found that entering the legal profession at a later stage of life, having ended another, is sometimes a disadvantage — in this case it is a tremendous advantage,” he said. “She has a tremendous gift for seeing the essentials. She was always very conscious of the end result we were looking for.”

Speaking for Mrs Rivas was Isis Law senior corporate attorney Brenda Lehmann, who told the court that her pupil had studied at the College of Law in Bloomsbury, London.

Mrs Rivas holds a Bachelor of Laws with second class honours.

Noting that as a corporate lawyer she does not have occasion to appear before the Supreme Court, Ms Lehmann told Mrs Justice Simmons: “I can’t think of a more delightful reason to have to appear in the Supreme Court for the first time.”

Calling Mrs Rivas “persuasive” and a keen “team player”, she said: “Dominique has been instrumental in making my practice run smoothly.”