Fifty years ago a brand new lawyer looked out from the front page of The Royal Gazette in his best suit.

Now 50 years later Peter Smith is still practising law -- and still has the same suit.

On July 19, 1948 this "young barrister'' following in his father's footsteps, shared front page honours with headlines of the Berlin blockade and rumours of war in the Middle East.

And the 26-year-old Rhodes Scholar promised his father Sir Allen Smith -- the Chief Justice from 1960 to 1961 -- that he would use his talents for "the benefit of the Colony''.

Mr. Smith is now himself a proud father of seven children and 11 grandchildren, but still remembers the day he was called to the Bar.

"I haven't changed that much,'' he said, "and my signature hasn't changed at all.'' As a child Mr. Smith lived between homes in Paget and Somerset before leaving the Island at age 15 to continue his schooling in England.

Then from 1942 to 1946 he served as an artillery officer in the British Army.

Despite not seeing "any action'', his tours of duty took him to England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and India.

And the day he passed his Bar exam in November 1947 proved doubly exceptional.

On that day he "reached out and grabbed'' a young occupational therapist named Pamela at a local dance.

Thirteen months later they were married, three weeks ago they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

"Listen, persist, and assist,'' is Mr. Smith's three-point advice for a golden marriage.

"Enjoy each other's company,'' he continued. "Make sure that you have a passionate love affair as long as possible...with your wife!'' When Mr. Smith embarked on his half-century career, there were only a handful of lawyers on the Island.

Today, the listing of barristers and attorneys takes up some three pages of the yellow pages.

As Mr. Smith leaned back in his chair at the offices of Mello, Hollis, Jones and Martin, he counted off the names of his early colleagues and reminisced.

"When I started off there were 13 lawyers,'' he recalled.

"...we had a chair, a desk and a manual typewriter, that's it.'' Not surprisingly, a later installation of an air-conditioner led to a major increase in business.

After serving as the Solicitor General from 1951 to 1954 Mr. Smith eventually began his own business in 1969.

He closed the firm after 29 successful years to allow his assistant to retire and joined Mello, Hollis, Jones and Martin in 1993.

But Mr. Smith spoke fondly of the past familiarity and fraternity of lawyers when colleagues would "never try to pull a fast one'' in court and everyone knew each other by name.

As a general practitioner, Mr. Smith said the legal field was very different now and admitted the days of one-man law firms were a thing of the past.

Nowadays, lawyers specialise among a variety of areas of legal expertise, he explained.

But he would gladly choose the same path again, he said.

"I always wanted to be a lawyer. My father was a lawyer and it seemed natural for me to just go on.

"My father encouraged me to do it and I've never wanted to do anything else.'' Mr. Smith said he has seen Bermuda change "from a small agricultural, tourist oriented business to a still tourist oriented business but with vast sums of money coming in from international business'' during his successful career.

He never takes the elevator when he can take the stairs, and offered this advice for anyone seeking to equal his achievement.

"Try to be considerate and try to give good service. Keep yourself up to date, work hard, and insist upon a good support staff. Be outgoing in other matters.'' Does the 77-year-old lawyer have any plans for retirement?.

He recalled a recent encounter with a fellow bus passenger. After asking where Mr. Smith was currently working, the woman told him he could not leave until he helped her to write a will.

"As long as my health and mind hold out, I'll be here,'' Mr. Smith promised.