THE LAWYERS’ INN SOCIETY AND ITS NEW HOME

By Adam Howden-Duke1

Who will move this half ton table to Erickson’s eyrie on high weighted down with memories and an occasional sigh?

While the author was still in diapers (and on the other side of the world), the doors opened on the first Lawyers’ Inn. This was May 14, 1972, and the inn was located on the second floor of the Marc building on the corner of Hornby and Dunsmuir. At that time, it was seen as an ideal location as it was one block from the courthouse and surrounded by law offices. With the backing of the Vancouver Bar Association, the inn was an immediate success, boasting 500 members in its inaugural year.

As the photo below shows, at the heart of the inn was the common table. What distinguished the table was not only its size and weight, but its pur- pose: to allow both lawyers and judges to meet and exchange ideas and comradeship in a relaxing atmosphere.

While at the Marc, the inn hosted many luminaries, such as Chief Justice Laskin, Lord Denning of Whitchurch (Master of the Rolls) and Lord Widgery, the Lord Chief Justice of England. During his visit, Lord Widgery formally installed the inn’s Middle Temple table, made from oak boards, which served since 1730 in the Middle Temple hall.

When the current Vancouver courthouse, designed by Arthur Erickson, began to take shape in the late 1970s, at its centre was a large space devoted for a restaurant, which looked out over a reflecting pond to the north (later named Lake Nemetz) toward the old courthouse, and the North Shore mountains beyond. The board of directors of the Lawyers’ Inn Society approached the Chief Justice and offered to take over the space to operate a public restaurant and the Lawyers’ Inn. February 15, 1981 was the Lawyers’ Inn’s last day at the Marc before it moved to the Erickson-designed courthouse.

And so, the Middle Temple table and the common table were moved to what became known, for nearly 40 years, as the Law Courts Inn. However, in late 2020, the Ministry of Citizens’ Services decided not to renew the Lawyers’ Inn Society’s lease of the Law Courts Inn, and the society, for the first time in its nearly 50-year history, was without a home. The Law Society of British Columbia became the gracious custodian of the Middle Temple table, several members of the profession became the gracious custodians of historical photos that had adorned the walls of the Law Courts Inn and the common table was put (somewhat unceremoniously) into storage.

Now, through the tireless efforts of a dedicated board of directors and the generosity of Charest Legal Solutions Inc., who share our vision for a place where the bench and bar can come together to foster and maintain a culture of professionalism, both tables (and the society) have a new home.

The Lawyers’ Inn Society is proud to announce that it has established a new Lawyers’ Inn, at the offices of Charest Legal Solutions Inc., 885 West Georgia Street, so that the society can fulfill the purposes it was created for—namely, to foster and promote understanding, cooperation, exchange of ideas and comradeship between all members of the legal profession, and to provide a forum for the full and free discussion of all matters of interest to its members.

To those of you who attended our inaugural event at our new venue, thank you, and we hope that you had an enjoyable and enlightening evening. To all, we look forward to welcoming you to future events at the new Lawyers’ Inn.

Endnote

1. The author acknowledges the following resources: “The Lawyers’ Inn: Focus of Vancouver Legal Life”, (1972) 30 Advocate 288; Michael Herman, “The Lawyers’ Inn: The President’s Report” (1974) 32 Advocate 243; “The Lawyers’ Inn: The President’s Report” (1975) 33 Advocate 459; Wally Lightbody,

“The Law Courts Inn – More Than Just a Pretty Restaurant” (1993) 51 Advocate 899; Bruce Fraser & Sandra Kovacs, “The History, and Future, of the Lawyers’ Inn: A Home for Lawyers” (2015) 73 Advocate 187.