Colleagues, friends and family of the late lawyer Bala Nadarajah packed a special sitting held at Supreme Court to honour the 78-year-old’s legacy.Chief Justice Ian Kawaley told the more than 100 gathered yesterday that Mr Nadarajah played “a pivotal role in the development of Bermuda into the leading offshore financial centre that it is today.“Too often it happens that people come to Bermuda and make valuable contributions, and are not acknowledged. Bala is not one of those.”He added: “He was, in my view, a model lawyer in terms of his integrity and ethics.”Mr Justice Kawaley added that it was fitting to hold the gathering in the same building where Mr Nadarajah worked, upon initially coming to Bermuda in 1979, for the Registrar of Companies, where he began his key work in the Island’s business regulations.Colleague and friend Rod Attride-Stirling recalled: “Bala was a unique person — he had a quality about him that’s difficult to describe accurately. One was drawn to him. And if one looks at the legal side, his analysis was always thoughtful, his conclusions clearly reasoned. Bala had a brilliant mind.”His passing was “a huge loss to the legal world here, and the insurance industry — but the biggest loss of all is to his family”.The Sri Lankan lawyer played an instrumental role in the forging of Bermuda’s insurance and company law, as well as the regulatory framework that, in time, established Bermuda as an international business contender.He also served as director of the Bermuda Monetary Authority from 2002 to 2006.Shauna MacKenzie, policy director for the BMA, said Mr Nadarajah had been “a true representative of Bermuda”.“Bala’s work and his support will live on,” she said.Mr Nadarajah, who died in Florida on April 11, is survived by wife Kristina, son Stefan and daughter Nadine.