The Legacy of a Robe Dirk’s

In the early summer of 1973, a young Dirk James Sigalet was approaching the end of his articles. Soon to be hired by his uncle, principal and mentor Bruce Fraser, KC, Dirk was instilled with the traditions of the law profession from a very young age.

Just one week before his call ceremony, Dirk was given a big break: an opportunity to junior another lawyer named Jack Cram. For his first trial, this was a unique one. The pair were assigned to defend a woman who had been accused of murdering her fisherman husband with a fillet knife.

When Dirk arrived at the courthouse, the presiding judge graciously invited him to pass through the gate at the Bar and sit at the defence counsel’s table with Jack. He was wearing the usual articling student garb, a dark, inconspicuous well-worn suit and tie.

Deciding enough was enough, and that his nephew should look the part in the courtroom, Bruce stepped in and generously gifted Dirk some newly tailored barrister robes.

First thing on Monday, Dirk proudly donned his new robes and posed for photos at his call ceremony. Then he rushed straight to the courthouse where the murder trial was already underway. On arrival, the presiding judge couldn’t help but notice Dirk’s hesitant approach to the Bar’s gate. He glanced at Dirk’s new robes and announced, “Mr. Sigalet, you no longer need the Court’s permission to pass through this Bar and sit at a Counsel table, this is now your privilege. Welcome. Now, let’s proceed.”

Many years later, when Dirk was recognized for his contributions to the profession and appointed Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel), he hung up his robe and joined Uncle Bruce for a toast with a glass of single malt. It was a toast to Bruce’s generous gift all those years ago, and his patient and wise mentorship.

A barrister’s robes can hold many stories. From how they were obtained, their first call ceremony, to the trials they oversaw and everything in between until they are hung up for the final time.

But the story doesn’t need to end there. Exactly fifty years after Dirk was gifted his robe, new lawyer Valérie Lebrun contacted the CBABC Robe Bank hoping to borrow a robe for her call ceremony. She continued the legacy of that very same robe by wearing it with pride and joy for the most special moment in her career.

Dirk’s robe is now pressed and dry cleaned, hanging in the CBABC office waiting for the next lawyer to add to its story.

Follow Dirk’s robe and all the other generously donated robes in the CBABC Robe Bank

The Law Foundation’s Legal Research Fund supports research projects that aim to advance access to justice for people in British Columbia. Eligible grant seekers can apply for up to $25,000 to support research that has the potential to advance knowledge related to law, social policy, and the administration of justice. The Foundation encourages applications where the proposed research has the potential to promote inclusion and meaningful responses to ongoing harms to equity-denied people and communities through the legal system.

The Foundation is accepting applications to the Legal Research Fund until 5:00 p.m. on September 22, 2023

This funding call is open to:

„ Members of the Law Faculties at Thompson Rivers the University of Victoria, as long as the application is submitted with the express approval of their Dean.

„ Members of other faculties in British Columbia, as long as the research is law-related and the application is submitted with the express approval of their Dean.

„ Members of the legal profession in British Columbia who can demonstrate they have the background, interests, and capacity to carry out legal research.

„ Non-profit organizations with expertise in carrying out legal research.

To learn more about the funding call and to learn how to submit an application, please click here.

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TONY WILSON, KC

In the early 70s, travelling with my family to London, my dad frequented a lot of art galleries that featured works that only the landed gentry could afford. At one gallery, the art dealer showed him a 5 x 7 squiggle that looked like some sort of abstract rooster drawn by a child in about 45 seconds. So much for my appreciation of art. It was, in fact, an original Picasso squiggle, and the year after Pablo died, I think it was fetching £2000. That was a princely sum even in those days, but I remember saying to my dad “do you really think Picasso needs the money?” Now if my dad had bought that Picasso squiggle, he might’ve had a much more enjoyable and financially secure retirement than he did, but the point still resonates with me. Why buy art from dead artists when the living ones could use the cash? So, think about that when you are buying art for law office or your house.

Living by those words, all the art that my wife and I have collected over the past 30 years was purchased when all the artists were alive to enjoy the money. My latest purchase was an original piece by Australian artist Sally West who paints a lot of seascapes of Bondi Beach in Sydney. While looking at her work over the internet, I was blown away by one piece in particular, and bought it for my 65th birthday; a year before I ever saw Bondi.

My wife and I seem to have a pattern of buying art over the internet. We were stranded in Cairo when the pandemic hit, and while on hold for hours trying to book a flight home, I found a Vancouver artist on the web named John Ferrie who did an amazing painting of False Creek and Vancouver House. We liked it so much, we bought it from our hotel room on the Nile and picked it up when we came home. I believe it’s our only souvenir of Cairo.

While in Las Vegas in 2014, we stumbled into a gallery displaying photographic art by William Carr and were mesmerized by a massive photograph of Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre where we had been a few years earlier. The photo seemed to glow even when the showroom lights were dimmed. Rather than being backlit with neon bulbs, Carr’s photos are created using a substrate that gives the work luminescence. When we got home, we measured where it might go and bought it (again, over the internet). It’s become the centerpiece of our living room.

In a Tofino gallery a few years ago, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of a glass salmon created by Vancouver Island artist Christopher Smith who specializes in, you guessed it, glass salmons. Tofino has some great galleries, including the Tofino Gallery of Contemporary Art.

Another local artist, Angie Hemphill, did an amazing painting of our house in New Westminster, which my wife gave me for my birthday in anticipation of us downsizing when the kids left. “Wherever we go, we’ll always have the house,” she said.

The painting caused us to cancel our downsizing plan and stay in our house; probably forever.

Our last renovation led us to buy art by another neighbour in New West, whose “art name” is J. Charles but he’s the father of one of my daughter’s closest friends, who we’ve known for 25 years. We have about three of his pieces.

Finally, I commissioned a piece by Vancouver artist Larry Tillyer of our kids in a little yellow dingy on the beach near Gabriola Island when they were small. I gave Larry some photographs for his painting. Larry removed their lifejackets for the piece, but the kids are now happily floating in Monet’s Pond, which I guess is what artists do. Mind you, I have to remind people that they had their lifejackets on for the original photo.

None of our art was particularly expensive and we bought it because we liked it, not because we thought it would increase in value. I’m sure all the artists appreciated that they got paid for their art while they were alive rather than after they died.

Tony Wilson, KC is a Vancouver Franchise Lawyer, a Life Bencher of the Law Society, and an Adjunct Professor at TRU Law School. Over the past two decades, he has been a regular columnist for The Globe and Mail, Canadian Lawyer, and other publications. This is his 20th year writing “Nothing Official” for BarTalk, and as everyone should know by now, the opinions expressed in “Nothing Official” are his alone and do not reflect the views of the Law Society, the CBABC, or their respective members.