Law History Profiles

The Honourable Madam Justice Risa E. Levine holds a BA (Honours) and an MA in Sociology from the University of Toronto and an LLB from the University of British Columbia's law school. She received the Law Society Gold Medal and Prize for the LLB class of 1977, in recognition of achieving the highest cumulative grade point average over three years of study at the Allard School of Law. She would later join the Faculty as an adjunct professor and join the Dean's Advisory Committee for the Centre for Business Law.

Pamela Ann Kirkpatrick received a telephone call from Kim Campbell, the Minister of Justice, on Thursday afternoon, November 26, 1992, to offer her an appointment as a Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia sitting

Melvin Hunt began his life in an orphanage in Toronto, taken from his unwed mother after his birth in 1942. His early years in orphanages and foster homes were not encouraging for academic pursuits, and instead Melvin engaged in his own entrepreneurial ventures before dropping out in grade 10 to be independent. He worked a variety of heavy-labour jobs until mid-day during a construction job at age 17 he visited a Canadian Forces recruiting office, a decision that would be life-changing.

Peter Csiszar is a Partner at Harris & Company LLP (“Harris”), a well-regarded labour and employment firm located in Vancouver. His legal practice involves a variety of matters related to labour law, employment law, and human rights law, including collective agreement interpretation and collective bargaining strategies. Over his career Csiszar has appeared before a variety of courts and administrative bodies including the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the British Columbia Court of Appeal, human rights tribunals, labour arbitration boards, and the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

Leigh Harrison has succeeded Barbara Nelson as President of the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association on August 27th. He was born in Vancouver in 1949 and graduated from Point Grey High School. He took first year Arts at UBC and then began three years of education by travelling, visiting and working in New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia and India ... 

On April 23, 2010, the Prime Minister announced the appointment of Anne Winter Mackenzie as Associate Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia to “replace” (if such is possible) the Honourable Patrick D. Dohm, who retired after serving in that role for 15 years. She is the first woman to occupy that position …

This issue of the Advocate honours Robert Brun, who assumed the position of president of the B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association in August 2003, for a one-year term. Robert Charles Brun was born in 1952 to Mona and Paul. Many may recognize Mona Brun as local media personality who hosted the Woodward’s cooking show on BCTV for many years ... 

Barbara Jo Nelson was born Barbara Jo Branston in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, a few years ago. Sometime later, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Calgary as Barbara Jo Froese. She then moved to Vancouver and obtained her law degree from the University of British Columbia in 1976, and was called to the Bar of British Columbia in 1977 ...

The political activism of Ujjal Dosanjh, British Columbia’s 33rd premier, was bred in the bone. Growing up in the Punjab in the early days of India’s hard-won independence, he has many childhood memories of the lively political debates that constituted dinner conversation in the Dosanjh household. He learned at a young age the value of being able to vigorously disagree with an opponent while maintaining personal respect ...

barbara, as a first year student, consulted the student health service psychologist. She told him that either something was wrong with the world, or something was wrong with her, and she hoped that it was the latter as it would be much easier to fix.

“[Law school] was a conservative place. But I mean, it’s funny, when you ask about law and politics. For me, I went into law, basically, because I knew that I had the political bug. I was originally going to go into medicine. I did pre-med at UBC. I was in the Faculty of Sciences. In fact, I was on the AMS – the Alma Mater Society, the Student’s Council - and then I was on the Senate of the University representing medical and science students,” says Svend Robinson ...

Justice Catherine Bruce is a woman of many talents and great energy. She has a distinguished record of professional achievement and service. She graduated from UBC in 1976, second in her class, and then articled at Shrum Liddle & Hebenton (as it then was). Yearning for academe, she attended LSE to take an LL.M. in 1978. On return to Canada, she spent three years as in-house counsel for the Canadian Airline Flight Attendants' Association, which post she left in 1981 to join Braidwood &Co., where she practised labour, criminal and civil litigation.

Kenneth Stephen Tessovitch was born in The Pas, Manitoba on March 15, 1947. He was vague about his antecedents, describing himself only as "White Russian". While no doubt this was in reference to the legendary cocktail, Ken's taste ran more to cold beer and homemade red wine. Although his ancestors may or may not have hailed
from Eastern Europe, he certainly seemed built to withstand the type of weather one might experience in that part of the world. His parents eventually relocated to Prince George which had an equally inhospitable climate in wintertime.

“We buried my aunt yesterday,” Leslie Pinder begins. “I was reflecting at the service that she was actually the one who got me into all of this. [She] was a very beautiful but rather stern, matriarchal kind of woman. She said, ‘And what are you going to do in your life?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m going to become a writer.’ She said, ‘Oh, no, no, no, you can’t become a writer. You have no experience! Why don’t you get a job at the police department? You’ll get experience there!’ For some reason, I picked up the challenge and thought, ‘Well, you know, she’s probably right.’”

David Crossin is the newly appointed president of the Law Society. He is also a masterful advocate whose every word in the courtroom is obviously carefully chosen - he thus commands the absolute attention of the court whenever he rises to speak. He also commands the respect of all who are present by virtue of his attitude and the manner in which he carries himself...

Peeter Wesik is a proud UBC alumnus. He first graduated with a BA in political science in 1973, and then with an LLB in 1976. Mr. Wesik has been a long-time supporter of UBC, making donations to Athletics, the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Law. A student lounge is named in Mr. Wesik's honour through a generous gift by the Wesik family to the Building Project.

Each of Brad's three names is rooted in that family history: "Bradford" is after Governor Bradford, an early governor of the Plymouth colony; Mr.

"One of the things as a lawyer is you don't often get to see physical manifestations of what you've done...but to see a physical manifestation, whether it's that I go up to Whistler and drive along the Sea to Sky Highway, or I go to a hospital or a school that I was involved in, it's really satisfying. It justifies the hard work." - Anne Stewart, QC, YMCA Woman of Distinction, Canada's Top 25 Woman Lawyers, Public-Private Partnership Projects Pioneer, Class of 1975.

On November 8, 2013, the Honourable Justice Christopher Hinkson was sworn in as the sixteenth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. His appointment was universally well received by the court, the bar and the public…

The journey to the president’s desk is long and arduous for any bencher and particularly so for a sole practitioner, barrister, father of six and aspiring farmer from Prince George. We have known and enjoyed Richard for many years here in Cariboo County and have seen first-hand the scrupulous and unstinting effort and energy that he devotes to his bencher duties and Law Society initiatives. Our members and the public have a tireless worker in this president ...