In this collection of biographical essays David Ricardo Williams portrays the careers and personalities of seven eminent men whose contributions to the legal fabric of the country have been immeasurable. Farris, who was capable of flamboyance but never relied on it, did criminal work until the end of his career and was for a time attorney general of British Columbia.

Lafleur, when insulted by a judge, could walk out quietly from the courtroom in the middle of a case only to have the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada come to his hotel room and persuade him to continue his argument. Tilley, who knew more law in more areas than anyone else in his time, was a director of several major Canadian corporations, among them the Canadian Pacific Railway. Geoffrion, a fast-talking man, was known for his lighthearted badinage with judges and for his business acumen. Born a few months before Confederation, Pitblado was acknowledged nationwide as an expert in the highly complex - and for lawyers, lucrative - field of freight rates.

Covert was one of the most influential lawyers in the Atlantic region and a pioneer as a labour lawyer. Henderson was a master of intellectual property law and was dedicated to community service.

1. Based on extensive research, and written for the general reader, these portraits demonstrate the importance, especially in the first half of this century, of the role of the Privy Council as the court of last resort for Canada. They emphasize the dominant role played in the profession by the barrister as opposed to the solicitor, and they illustrate the value system and attitudes of a generation of lawyers who regarded the law as a profession rather than a business.