Law History Profiles

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 ...

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…

After graduating from UBC in 1971 with a BA in Film Production and English and then traveling through Europe and Asia for a year, Peter Grant was without work. An employment counselor asked him what he was trained to do, and he answered, “‘I’m in film. I want to be a film producer.’ And she said, ‘Have you got any other options?’ And I said, “Well, I’ve been accepted to law school, but I don’t really want to go.’ So she said, ‘Go to law school. There is no future in film in this country.’” Grant went to law school ... 

“Pure synchronicity” is the phrase Louise Mandell uses to describe the process by which she arrived at UBC for law school. Teaching certificate, education degree and some traveling under her belt, she says, “I had no clue what I was going to do. So I applied randomly to the London School of Economics, Simon Fraser University’s grad program in communications, UBC law school … and UBC’s [acceptance] came in first. Cosmic lottery.”

When J. Parker MacCarthy left lovely Cobble Hill for Quebec City in mid-August this year, he went as one of Vancouver Island’s more experienced and admired general practitioners. He returned a little later as President of the B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association – a fitting tribute for a fine person. He is the first President from the Island and only the second from outside the Lower Mainland … 

In 1982, Jennings decided to leave the law practice to pursue a life less ordinary - in his case, opening a fly-fishing shop in Calgary, where he had lived as a teenager in the 1960s. In the space of just a few minutes, Neil Jennings rattles off quotes from Oliver Wendell Holmes and George Carlin with equal respect. It makes sense. Holmes ("Most people die with the music still in them.") and Carlin ("It's just STUFF!") were addressing the same, age-old relationship between happiness and materialism.

Mary Saunders, Q.C., is one of the new appointees to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Although born in Vancouver and appointed to the Bench from the Vancouver firm of Campney & Murphy, her character was formed by her upbringing and schooling in Valemont and Merritt; her soul belongs to the interior of the province. She continues to travel back to Nicola Lake where her mother maintains a home and to Kamloops where her brother and his family reside. In fact, Mary was one of the boosters of the Coquillaha Highway to Merritt …

T.E. (known to everyone as Terry) La Liberté is the incoming President of the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association. A long time B.C.A. “groupie”, Terry practices predominantly in criminal and some civil litigation with his law firm, La Liberte Rich. Terry began life in Ste. Catherines, Ontario. He thought better of this at a relatively early age, however, and relocated with his family to New Westminster where his father was a barber …

Karen was born in Victoria not so many years ago. She lived with her parents in England after her birth, returning to Victoria as a wee slip of a girl, ultimately graduating in Honours English from the University of Victoria. Karen attended UBC Law School, where she was affectionately known as Boomer. She obtained her law degree in 1974 and was called to the Bar of British Columbia on 1975. Mr. and Mrs. Nordlinger, Sr. for their sins, produced two lawyers. Karen’s only sibling, peter, practices law in Victoria ... 

Just a dozen years after hanging out her shingle in Maple Tree Square, Jo-Ann Prowse was appointed to the County Court of Vancouver in December of 1986.

Patricia Colleen Connor was born January 20, 1950 in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. She moved when very young to Vancouver with her mother, her sister Jeannie, and her aunt. Graduating first from Sir Winston Churchill High School, then UBC Law in 1974, she was called to the bar the next year, in 1975.

Madam Justice Mary Victoria Newbury practised principally as a corporate commercial lawyer. However, she was best known as a "lawyers' lawyer". At both her former firm, Ladner Downs, and her last firm, Fraser & Beatty, her partners looked to her when they were confronted with legal problems of exceptional difficulty. Her vast legal knowledge, her superb analytical skills and her ability to reach a conclusion speedily were renowned.

On December 16, 1985, Mary Ellen Boyd took her seat on the Bench of the County Court of Vancouver. There, she will no doubt continue to hold that professional respondent which she so deservedly earned in her practice at the Bar. Her Honour was born in Saskatoon ...

Madam Justice Mary Victoria Newbury practised principally as a corporate commercial lawyer. However, she was best known as a "lawyers' lawyer". At both her former firm, Ladner Downs, and her last firm, Fraser & Beatty, her partners looked to her when they were confronted with legal problems of exceptional difficulty. Her vast legal knowledge, her superb analytical skills and her ability to reach a conclusion speedily were renowned.

Mexico City, October, 1968. It’s the year of the Fosbury Flop, the first doping tests, the first woman to light the Olympic cauldron— and all at 2,240 metres above sea level. Olympic and world records are set and broken and broken again in the rarefied air: long jump, high jump, triple jump, pole vault and sprints. But for the middle- and long-distance runners, the altitude has the reverse effect. “It was a huge factor,” says Trerise, the memories flooding back. “The feeling is that you just want to lie down and go to sleep.

Madam Justice Linda Ann Loo obtained her law degree from UBC in 1974, and was called to the Bar in 1975. She was practicing law as in-house Counsel for BC Hydro from 1975 to 1986, before becoming an associate (and later, a managing partner) with the law firm Singleton Urquhart, where she stayed from 1986 to 1996.

Rick's practice has focused on criminal defence, and his professional life's work has been rooted in the firm belief that defence counsel fulfills a vital function in society. It is a role that can be carried out in a way that not only serves the client, but also befits a noble profession and enhances the administration of justice. He speaks frequently and passionately about the importance of an independent bar, civility and professionalism, and he practises what he speaks...

Having known Gordon Turriff, Q.C., for more than a collective century, it is somewhat remarkable that we cannot easily describe the Law Society’s new president in simple terms. Gordon is first, and truly, a British Columbian and Vancouverite. He was born and raised on the west side of Vancouver, the younger of two children of Les and Mary Turriff. His father was a manager with an international transportation firm, and his mother, after raising their family, was secretary to the chancellor of UBC …

Thanks largely to Derek’s efforts the attitude of the profession toward alcohol and drug problems has changed dramatically. People are more open about their problems and the problems of others and are much more inclined to seek help and deal with their problems. [The Lawyers Assistance Program (“LAP”)] now has a case load of about 500 people at any given time. It has approximately 300 volunteers and three full-time and one part-time lawyers/counselors. It has also opened a satellite office in Victoria.

Trudi L. Brown, QC graduated from UBC’s law school in 1973. She is a family law litigator, mediator, and arbitrator based in Victoria, BC. After being called to the BC bar in 1974, Ms. Brown worked at the BC Crown Counsel office in Victoria for 4 years. In 1978, she started her own firm, Buckler Metzger Brown and Miliken. She formed another firm, Brown and Kay in 1984, which went on to become Brown Acheson Henderson - better known as “Broads on Broad Street.” From 1988 to 2001, Ms. Brown worked at Horne Coupar. She now practices family law at her firm Brown Henderson Melbye.