Law History Profiles

Selwyn Romilly was born in Trinidad and left home when it was still a British colony. His father, a school principal, had always insisted that his kids get professions. Romilly’s brother Valmond also decided to practice law and became a judge like his brother. His first choice was to study in England, but friends of his who were studying engineering at UBC convinced him to move to Vancouver. He confesses that his decision to go to UBC was partially influenced by Vancouver’s mild weather.

Born to immigrant parents in Vancouver, Wally Oppal grew up with a strong work ethic and a will to learn. After finishing broadcasting school he worked in lumber mills and as a disc jockey in order to put himself through his undergraduate and law degrees at UBC. As a visible minority, Wally Oppal pursued a legal career in part because he believed that he could achieve more success in the legal profession than in business.

William S. Berardino, QC is a member of the LLB class of 1965. Mr. Berardino’s firm, Berardino & Harris LLP merged with Hunter Voitch in 2006 to create the Vancouver-based, leading litigation firm, Hunter Litigation Chambers. Throughout Mr. Berardino’s accomplished career, he was worked on many landmark cases and appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada on many occasions.

“I was turned on by Law School. I had not been much of a serious student. I was a regular, ordinary student. Then I got into Law School and…I enjoyed Law School generally and then I did well in Law School and that helped a lot.” – Michael O’Keefe, Special Assistant to the Minister of Finance, Adjunct Professor, Tax Lawyer, Class of 1965.

Bruce waited until 1940 to be born, knowing that in 1986 he would become the youngest Treasurer of the Law Society of British Columbia. He embraced Judaism at birth knowing it would make him the first Treasurer of Jewish persuasion, notwithstanding any claim by Harry Rankin, Q.C. Finally, having arranged for his hair to turn prematurely grey at age twenty-nine, Bruce gave himself plenty of time to perfect the “Treasurer’s Look” …

Paul Beckmann grew up in New Westminster, attended the public schools there and went on to U.B.C. where he took the commerce and law option. He was granted this B.Comm. degree in 1963 and his LL.B. in 1964 …

Dennis J. Mitchell was born in 1934 at Leipzig, Saskatchewan. He recognized at an early age that salmon fishing in Saskatchewan was poor as were his chances of becoming Master Treasurer of our Society if he remained resident in that province. Accordingly, he asked his parents to move to the family to British Columbia. His parents were not prepared to abandon the prairies and the family compromised by settling near Dawson Creek where they established a grain farm ...

Stanley Gifford Turner was born in March 1938 and raised on his family's farm in Kelowna, B.C. He completed an undergraduate degree in Geology, and married his high school sweetheart in 1961, the year he enrolled in law school at the University of British Columbia. He graduated in 1964 and began practice in Vancouver, but soon relocated from the stress of the big city to start his own small town practice. The Turner family settled in Princeton, B.C. in 1968 and Stanley Turner's practice became a town mainstay over the next 49 years.

Angela Swan is nothing short of a venerated celebrity in both Canadian contract law and the Canadian legal community at large. With over fifty years of experience in the legal profession, Swan has expertly filled a number of roles from professor to esteemed counsel. An award-winning author, renowned educator, and frequently cited scholar, Swan embodies what it means to be a jack of all trades in the field of law. As a result of her years of noted passion and drive, Swan is regarded as one of the most distinguished experts in Canadian contract law.

Raymond MacLeod was born in Vancouver and raised on the city's West Side, first attending high school at Kitsilano Secondary. He transferred to Vancouver College, where playing football earned him an athletic scholarship to the University of Oregon. After graduation he continued his football career in the Canadian Football League, playing two years with Edmonton and one with Winnipeg. During his second year with Edmonton in 1954, he won the Grey Cup.

Kenneth S. Benson was born in Vancouver and attended school on the Westside of the city, graduating from Grade 13 at King Edward High in 1956. He entered the Commerce-Law option at the University of British Columbia, and graduated with his LL.B. in 1962. In order to pay for his university education expenses, he worked throughout university driving trucks for Dairyland Milk Foods.

Nick A. Blom was born and raised in Wassenaar, on the west coast of Holland. At Christmas of his Grade 9 year, he immigrated with his family to Canada, settling in Pitt Meadows in early 1953. He completed high school in Port Moody, and enrolled at the University of British Columbia. He graduated with a BA in Math and Economics in 1959. Being unsure of what to do next, and realizing that a law degree gave the broadest choice of careers after graduation, Blom enrolled in law school and graduated from UBC in 1962.

Kenneth J. Doolan graduated from high school Kitsilano Secondary in 1952. He attended the University of British Columbia, eventually taking the Commerce-Law option and graduation with his LL.B. in 1962.

He obtained articles under Allan McEachern (as he then was), and practiced law for 21. In November 1984, he was then sworn in as the District Registrar of the Supreme Court siting in Vancouver. Two months later he was sworn in as a Registrar in Bankruptcy. In 1989 he was sworn in as a Master of the Court, and sat as a Master until reaching retirement age in September 2003.

Fred Green was born in Victoria, BC and spent most of his time on Vancouver Island. He spent a brief time in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia to study law, obtaining his LL.B. in 1962.

“I heard lots of bombers and V1’s. The V2’s you didn’t hear. We were the luckiest people of course; most of the rest of Europe was far worse off.” Martin R. Taylor grew up in England during the Second World War. His mother was in the Army and his father was in the Home Guard. At the age of twenty-one, he embarked for North America on the RMS Queen Elizabeth with a sense of adventure and a willingness to go wherever fate took him.

Kenneth G. Hanna was born in Vanguard, Saskatchewan and spent his formative years in town across Alberta and Saskatchewan, before graduating from Crescent Heights High School in Calgary. He began law school at the University of Edmonton, but a visit to Vancouver at the start of his second year and a chance meeting with Dean Curtis inspired him to transfer to the University of British Columbia.

Douglas Mitchell was a distinguished lawyer, committed volunteer and thoughtful philanthropist who has helped many community organizations, but outstanding among these efforts is his long-time support of amateur sport in Canada, and university athletes in particular.

Marvin Storrow is an accomplished lawyer whose career includes several groundbreaking cases that have steered the course of legal history in Canada. He has received many distinctions including the highest award from the Canadian Bar Association's British Columbia Branch and the Milvain Chair of Advocacy Award from the University of Calgary, which is awarded to a leading Canadian courtroom lawyer.

Born and raised in Victoria, Cecil graduated from St. Michael's University School. He proved to be an able student, an excellent athlete, and was B.C. Junior Boys Tennis Champion. While at Victoria College (later UVic) he coached the girls' grass hockey team, started the Student Liberal Club and served on the student council…

For more, read Profile of Cecil Branson in The Advocate, 74 (2016).

Vaughan Hembroff shares the distinction of many of his classmates from the class of 1962 - appointment to a superior court. He attended the University of British Columbia to study Arts, where he met his wife Marilyn and was married in 1957. He proceeded to study law at UBC, and admits he enjoyed every minute of it. He returned to article in his hometown of Lethbridge, Alberta under Charles G. Virtue at Virtue and Company.