Born in Vancouver in 1927, Harry Bell-Irving was the youngest of four children. During his early school years, his teachers attested that he “knew everything” and moved him up a grade. He first enrolled at UBC in 1943 in Commerce two years before the Law School came into being; however, he says that he always intended to become a lawyer and “would have gone into law earlier if I could.” After three years in Commerce, Bell-Irving joined 160 other 1Ls in what would eventually become the Class of 1949. His many colleagues were servicemen returning from the war.
Bell-Irving witnessed the incredible growth that UBC experienced following the end of the war, with many veterans taking the opportunity to obtain a university education. When he first began his studies in 1943, there were around 1800 students. By the time he graduated, Bell-Irving attests, “there may have been 10,000.”
During the summers of his undergraduate, Bell-Irving recalls, he worked for O’Brian Logging to help pay for his education.
One significant difference between law school in 1946 and today, Bell-Irving remembers, is that students needed article before they even started law school. As a result, time spent with the law firms over the summer counted towards the students’ articling requirement, and “most would be called to the Bar by June [of their graduating year].”
After graduation, “there was plenty of work,” Bell-Irving says, “It wasn’t about what job you could find, but finding what you wanted to do.” He went to work with Douglas, Symes and Brissendon. Early in his career Bell-Irving discovered that there were very few lawyers specializing in tax, so that’s what he decided to do. He recalls that “you could go through the Income Tax Act pretty easily. It was around thirty-five pages.”
After six years at the firm, Bell-Irving made partner. Bell-Irving continued practicing until age 81. During his retirement, Bell-Irving continues to act as a Trustee.
When asked by the Allard Law History Project on what he thought the greatest change to happen to law was, he replies that he believes the Internet has significantly changed the practice. “Communication is so much quicker now,” he says, “There used to be a lot of time between replies, now there isn’t.”
For more, listen to Allard Law History Project Interview with Harry Bell-Irving.