Law History Profiles

Robert Hunter was born in Vancouver and grew up attending school on the West Side of the city. He enrolled at the University of British Columbia in the combined Commerce and Law program, graduating with his LL.B. in 1962. He articled in Vancouver with Campney, Owen and Murphy, but shortly after being called moved to Kamloops, where he practiced with Fulton, Rogers and Company for 29 years.

Jon L. Jessiman graduated from the University of British Columbia with his LL.B. in 1962. After graduation he practiced law in Vancouver, eventually specializing in Admiralty Law and working primarily as counsel in the Federal Court System, although concurrent jurisdiction in maritime law meant his cases would sometimes need to be argued at all levels of courts.

Jack Lee was born into a large family and raised with his 6 siblings in Vancouver's Chinatown. He attended the University of British Columbia, obtaining a degree in Commerce before his LL.B. in 1962. He opened his own practice in Chinatown, focusing on real estate law, where he worked until his retirement in 2008.

"I don’t have any illusions that my work will endure forever. It has to get examined and re-examined and modified as we know more about different kinds of issues. And that’s the way it should be.”

Warren Mitchell graduated from law school at the University of British Columbia in 1962, and articled with Allen McKimmie. He practiced there briefly after being called, but soon joind the Department of National Revenue in Ottawa, with the responsibility to litigate tax cases for the Department in Western Canada.

Willis Edward (Bill) O'Leary was born in Vulcan, Alberta and raised outside Edmonton and in Calgary, which he considers home. He grew up playing hockey in Calgary and his talent would determine the early years of his life. He was invited in 1949 to the New York Rangers prospect camp. While never playing for the NY Rangers, O'Leary did receive a scholarship to play hockey at the University of Denver, where he graduated with a degree in Business Administration in 1953.

William Charles (Bill) Bice was born 73 years ago in Winterthur, Switzerland. Bill’s father, the eldest son of a Duchy farmer, was born in St. Columb, Cornwall, in 1886. He came to Canada en route to Australia to join his three brothers, but when he saw Victoria and Vancouver Island he knew there could be no better place in all the world ...

Barrie Adams spent most of his career as a corporate and general counsel to various companies involved in the communications industry. When the establishment of the Canadian Radio-television Commission (CRTC) in 1968, Mr. Adams career changed quite drastically early on. However, over the years he developed a strong practice advocating in front of the commission, and eventually established his own law practice, focused on broadcasting regulation.

Dennis Overend was born in Vancouver and was raised there and in the North Okanagan, but spent the summers of his school years living life outdoors and enjoying his family's cabin on Mabel Lake. He attended high school at Vancouver College, and enrolled at the University of British Columbia. In the summers Overend worked in forestry but realized that his lack of aptitude for science impacted his aspirations to be a forester. Instead, he decided to try law and obtained his LL.B. from UBC in 1962.

Alexander Buchanan Stewart graduated in 1962 from the joint commerce-law program at the University of British Columbia. He served articles at Meredith & Co, where he continued after articles until joining the legal department at B.C. Hydro. He later founded his own firm of LaCroix, Stewart, Siddall & Saunders, and sometime after that founded another firm. Stewart, Aulinger & Co was his firm until retirement.

Bill Adamson was born on the Westside of Vancouver, where he graduated from high school at Lord Byng Secondary in 1955. He attended UBC, an easy choice of university due to its proximity. His choice of major was easy one too, given his lack of interest or aptitude in Sciences, Engineering, or Teaching, the natural remaining choice was Commerce or Law. He chose Law and graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1962.

Graham B. Walker graduated from law school at the University of British Columbia in 1962. He articled at Messers, Bull, Housser and Tupper, under David Brander Smith, QC. After call, Walker joined various firms, including serving as a junior to H. A. D. Oliver at Oliver Miller, whom he recalls argued an objection in Latin relying on Caesar's Gallic Commentaries. He settled into sole practice in 1967, and operated his own firm until retirement at the end of 2010.

Justice Lance Finch obtained his law degree from UBC in 1962. Justice Finch, who passed away on August 30, 2020, worked in private practice at Guild Yule for twenty years before becoming a trial judge and ultimately serving as Chief Justice for the Court of Appeal of British Columbia and Yukon Territory between 2001 and 2013. He became a member of the Order of British Columbia in 2017.

David Anderson was born in Victoria, British Columbia and grew up attending Victoria High School. He attended Victoria College (predecessor of the University of British Columbia) for two years before enrolling at the University of British Columbia to finish a degree in Law. While at UBC he was a member of the Thunderbirds rowing crew. Rowing with the Canadian Men's Eights crew at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago he won a silver medal, an accomplishment he would repeat a year later at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

Peter Leveque was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta but moved to Calgary at an early age. He attended the University of Alberta, where he obtained a bachelor of Science degree in chemistry before attending the University of British Columbia to study law. After graduating from UBC in 1962, he returned to Calgary to practice law. After 15 years in practice, Leveque was appointed to the provincial court of Alberta, and served as a judge for family and youth cases for more than 30 years

James Donald Baker was born at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia in December 1936. While he was still a child, his father died in an automobile accident, and his mother moved to East Vancouver. James Baker grew up on the east side of the city, and attended high school at Gladstone Secondary.

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.

Henry Allen Hope has been elected by his fellow Benchers to serve as the next Treasurer of the Law Society. This is partly because he is the next senior Bencher, but those who know him will realize that it is also because of his not inconsiderable ability and in spite of his not inconsiderable eccentricities. For instance, he owns, and runs, a 600 acre dairy farm on the Blackwater Road, outside Prince George and is, as careful research is able to establish, the only member of the history of the Bar to have been run over by his own tractor, while driving it …

The Honourable Alfred (“Alfie”) J. Scow, OC, OBC, of the Kwicksutaineuk-ah-kwa-mish First Nation on Vancouver Island, was born at a time when Aboriginal individuals were prohibited from entering the legal profession, but went on to become the first Aboriginal person to graduate from a BC law school and the first Aboriginal lawyer in BC to be called to the Bar. In 1971, he became the first Aboriginal BC Provincial Court judge, a capacity in which he served until his retirement in 1992.

Bradley Crawford, Q.C. earned his LLB from the Allard School of Law in 1961.

Crawford told the History Project that one of his most salient memories from his time as a student was the release of the first-year grade list, which was posted in the law library at that time.

“I found I was in the top three. I nearly fainted with relief.” he said. “I didn’t know I could do that. That is a fond memory.”

He maintained that level of achievement for all three years, earning a Commonwealth Scholarship in the process.