While tragedy and loss can break the best of us, it only served to spur Joshua DeAllie to do great things in his life.

Mr DeAllie, who recently completed his 12-month pupillage at Conyers Dill and Pearman in the corporate, trust and litigation departments, was accepted as a member of the Bermuda Bar yesterday before Puisne Judge Larry Mussenden.

Surrounded by professional colleagues, family members and friends, he made special mention of the late Stephen Edwards — “a brother and rival” — who also aspired to be a lawyer but who died in a traffic accident in 2014.

Mr DeAllie said: “This knocked me into another life as things no longer felt worth doing – for a period of time the sky didn’t seem blue and the grass was never green, no matter where I looked.

“After some reflection, and with the support of my friends and family, I decided to double down on our shared dream. I pursued it with twice as much ferocity in honour of his memory.”

Mr DeAllie said he went on to suffer further loss of family members and friends but vowed: “I will continue on in my unwavering pursuit of greatness.”

Addressing Mr Mussenden in the court, he said: “It is an immense privilege to be here before you as a member of this prestigious fraternity of legal professionals.”

He thanked many people who have helped him on his professional journey including Niel Jones, director at Conyers Dill and Pearman, who moved his application to be called to the Bermuda Bar.

Mr DeAllie said: “I aspire to become a legal professional of his stature. I would also like to thank him for his considered responses and advice, his steadfastness and calming demeanour, and his dependability as a pupil master — it allowed me to feel confident, that approaching him with any question would only result in my growth.”

Mr DeAllie obtained a law degree with first-class honours from the University of the West of England in Bristol in 2020 and then completed the LPC at BPP University Law School in Bristol in 2021.

He is a keen rugby player and has represented Bermuda at senior, under-19, under-16 and under-14 levels

Mr DeAllie also thanked his coaches and team-mates as well as fellow martial arts associates of his other sporting interest ninjutsu, with whom he said he gained “the qualities of perseverance, discipline and durability”.

Mr Jones said of Mr DeAllie: “A work ethic defined by motivation, dedication, teamwork and excellence needed to perform at this level of the game are qualities that we have seen Josh deliver during his time at Conyers.”

He added: “Mr DeAllie has spent considerably more time in court than I have as he did two legal internships with the Department of Public Prosecutions. Both his father and grandfather were policemen, so perhaps that steered him in the direction of the law and the DDP.

“During another summer, Josh was a legal intern in the compliance division of the Registry-General, which, at the time, was focused on its response to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force’s national risk assessment in regard to non-profit and charitable organisations.

“Between the DPP and a FATF response, those are some heavy legal beginnings indeed but knowledge of the Crown’s workings may certainly be useful to Josh going forward as corporate law has seen increased regulations and enforcement in more recent years.”

Mr DeAllie also gave special thanks to his father, Ian DeAllie, and family members for their support.

He added: “Without your firm guidance, unconditional love and unwavering support, I am unsure of the man I would have become.”