ADVICE, com. law. A letter containing information of any circumstances unknown to the person to whom it is written; when goods are forwarded by sea or land, the letter transmited to inform the consignee¹ of the fact, is termed advice of goods, or letter of advice. When one merchant draws upon another, he generally advises him of the fact. These letters are intended to give notice of the facts they contain.

ADVICE, practice. The opinion given by counsel to their clients; this should never be done but upon mature deliberation to the best of the counsel's ability; and without regard to the consideration whether it will affect the client favorably or unfavorably.

ADVISEMENT. Consideration, deliberation, consultation²; as the court holds the case under advisement.

ADVOCATE, civil and ecclesiastical law. 1. An officer who maintains or de fends³ the rights of his client in the same manner as the counsellor does in the common law.

2. Lord Advocate. An, officer of state in Scotland, appointed by the king, to advise about the making and executing the law, to prosecute⁴ capital crimes, &c.

3. College or faculty⁵ of advocates. A college consisting of 180 persons, appointed to plead in. all actions before the lords of sessions.

4. Church or ecclesiastical advocates. Pleaders appointed by the church to maintain its rights.

5. – 2. A patron who has the advowson or presentation to a church. Tech. Dict.; Ayl. Per. 53; Dane Ab. c.,31, 20. See Counsellor at law; Honorarium⁶.

ADVOCATIA, civil law. This sometimes signifies the quality, or functions, and at other times the privilege, or the territorial⁷ jurisdiction⁸ of an advocate, See Du Cange, voce Advocatia, Advocatio.

ADVOCATION, Scotch⁹ law. A writing drawn¹⁰ up in the form of a petition, called a bill of advocation, by which a party in an action applies to the supreme¹¹ court to advocate its cause, and to call the action out of an inferior court to itself. Letters of advocation, are the decree or warrant of the supreme court or court of sessions, discharging the inferior tribunal from all further proceedings¹³ in the matter, and advocating the action to itself. This proceeding¹² is similar to a certiorari (q. v.) issuing out of a superior court for the removal of a cause from an inferior.