"This is a great day - a beautiful day,'' a beaming Mouhannad Taha said after a brief but significant ceremony in the High Court at Invercargill yesterday.
Mr Taha (42) was admitted to the roll of barristers and solicitors - the final step in what has been a long and expensive process to gain his New Zealand legal qualifications and his right to practise.
In 2012, the Syrian left his troubled homeland and a successful law practice and moved to Dunedin, bringing with him his wife, Lina, and their four young children.
Another son and daughter have been born since.
He came to join his neurosurgeon brother Ahmad Taha, who emigrated in 2010.
Trained in a mix of Islamic and French law, Mr Taha was required to complete five papers in New Zealand, something he achieved over two years at the University of Otago Faculty of Law.
He said he was not eligible for any assistance with living and education expenses because he had not lived in New Zealand long enough, so was supported by his brother.
"He has done so much. We lived with him - two families and 17 people in one house for three years.''
Syria has been in the grip of a civil war since 2011.
An estimated twomillion Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries and fivemillion have been displaced within the country, the United Nations says.
Mr Taha ran his own law firm in the country's capital, Damascus, for 17 years and said it was not easy to leave everything behind.
"But it was, I think, a wise decision because of the tragic situation there - the miserable situation.''
Lawyers were particularly "under suspicion'' as being political activists or similar, he said.
"One lawyer was killed at his office in the evening, two to three months after me getting out of Syria.
"One of my good friends was kidnapped ... not far from the courthouse when he was getting out of his car. Nobody knows what has happened to him.
"Another one was killed by three bullets in his chest, by his house, in the middle of Damascus, under the eyes of the authorities.''
Prof Rex Ahdar, of the Faculty of Law, was one of about 20 people in court to watch Justice Rachael Dunningham admit Mr Taha to the Bar.
He said he had become close friends with Mr Taha, who had impressed him with his willingness to study hard and complete the necessary qualifications.
"He had to do all the basic New Zealand law papers, and he passed them all.''
Mr Taha was admitted to the Bar in Invercargill because he had been keen to pass that milestone as soon as possible and yesterday's ceremony was the earliest available, Prof Ahdar said.
Mr Taha said he felt "honoured and privileged'' to be accepted as a lawyer in New Zealand, and thanked his fellow students and Faculty of Law staff for their friendliness and support.
Now, he needed a job, and was prepared to move anywhere, he said.
"Wherever I get a job, I will go for it. But it has to be in New Zealand.''
