Two new lawyers have been welcomed to the Bermuda Bar before Larry Mussenden, the Acting Chief Justice.

Shaunée James and Karina Skinner have joined Walkers in its corporate, finance, funds and insurance division.

Kevin Taylor, the Bermuda partner, told Mr Justice Mussenden: “Moving the applications of two lawyers to the Bermuda Bar in short succession fills us with tremendous pride at Walkers, as we diligently continue to grow and develop our Bermuda legal training programme.”

The firm’s complement of practising lawyers on the island is now 60 per cent female.

Ms James told the court that it was “a long-held ambition to practise law in Bermuda”. Ms Skinner said: “Joining an esteemed group of lawyers in Bermuda, the majority of which are female, is something from which I take great pride.”

Ms James trained and qualified as a solicitor of England and Wales in 2014 with Reed Smith LLP in London.

She spent six years working in private practice at Reed Smith and Morgan Lewis and Bockius, followed by more than four years working as the primary transactions legal counsel at Chenavari Investment Managers, a London fixed-income credit fund.

She returned to Bermuda to work as senior counsel at Walkers in April 2023.

A graduate of the Bermuda High School for Girls, Ms James attended the international baccalaureate diploma programme at Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa.

She earned her law degree from the University of Manchester and completed the Legal Practice Course at BPP University, London.

Ms James thanked the teachers at BHS as well as the UWC Bermuda National Committee, which awarded her with a scholarship to study in Southern Africa — and the Bank of Bermuda Foundation, which chose her for the 2007 Sir Henry Tucker Scholarship in 2007, which funded her legal studies in England.

She said she had been the beneficiary of a “tribe of mentors”, and added that she “looks forward to mentoring and providing support to aspiring lawyers and more junior members of the legal profession in Bermuda”.

Ms Skinner completed her Legal Practice Course in Law, Business and Management in 2021 at University of London.

She also finished her Masters of Laws in Innovation, Technology and the Law at University of Edinburgh and her Bachelor of Laws with Honours at University of Dundee in Scotland.

Ms Skinner commenced her pupillage with Walkers in January 2023.

In her remarks before the court, she thanked pupil masters Peter Dunlop, Steven White and Sarah Demerling for their time, advice and knowledge.

Ms Skinner also acknowledged the support of her colleagues — in particular Cathryn Minors and Nicholas Howard for their support and mentorship, as well as challenging and encouraging her through her pupillage.

She added that her husband had been “a constant source of support”.

Ms James joined the Bar on October 13, while Ms Skinner was admitted on January 5.