96 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 1 JANUARY 2021
Dear Sir:
Carswell’s Lawbook News (Newsletter 138) contains amongst its newest
publications, “The Laws of the Republic of Kiribati”, revised edition, 1979,
Michael Jennings and C.J. Lynch (England).
Without even having read this scholarly tome, I am prepared to say that
in my opinion no law library in the Province of British Columbia is complete
without it. In fact, I would go so far as to advise that, particularly in
upcountry practices, in a list of ten law books most indispensable to any
practitioner, this title must invariably be found.
Yours truly,
Gerald J. Lecovin
Dear Sir:
Would you kindly note in the social calendar of the Advocate that our Society
is planning a gala event to celebrate the election of Lesley M. Little
(known affectionately amongst our Association as “Less than Little”) as
President of the B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association. While Mr.
Little is not a member of our group, for reasons which are obvious and
which I will not go into for fear of belittling him, he has always been with
us in name.
Yours truly,
Gerald J. Lecovin
Chaplin s.m.a.l.l.
Dear Sir:
I was happy to note that once again C.L.E. is giving a course on legal writing.
Each aspect of this course is important. The section on spelling is
immensely so. Good grammar is of course something which one can’t use
enough of. A good vocabulary is also nice to have.
For me, the most valuable lesson is the using of short sentences because
they clearly get the point across, rather than long ones which are usually
joined together with conjunctions so that by the time you reach the end
of the sentence, you forgot what you said at the beginning. Another winner
from C.L.E.
Yours truly,
G.J. Lecovin
Dear Sir:
I write pro bono procurator juris.
Every one of us has frequently been asked at a cocktail party or some
such function, “What do you charge?” This is invariably followed by what,
in fact, is a request for free legal advice. Anyone who has listened to the
oft-repeated lecture by Robert Guile, Q.C. on lawyer’s liability now realizes
that one is liable for negligent legal advice whether or not one is paid