Bryne was admitted to the bar in civilian practice before the Fleet's legal commissioning programme brought him into the Judge Advocate Division. He is one of a small number of serving officers who holds dual qualification in civilian and military law, a combination the Division acquired deliberately and that Bryne uses without fanfare.
The move to military practice came after he represented the family of a Fleet officer at a civilian inquest. The inquest concerned a training accident that the Fleet's own review had concluded was unforeseeable. Bryne's preparation led to a different conclusion. He was offered a consultation role with the Judge Advocate Division three months after the inquest closed, and the consultation became a commission within a year.
The Judge Advocate General is, by the nature of the role, not universally popular. Courts-martial require a prosecutor and Bryne is one. He has also, in the six years he has held the position, overturned four findings of an earlier court on review and recommended two proceedings that Fleet Command would have preferred not to open. He does not choose cases based on outcome. He has said this once, in public, and considered it sufficient.