Law History Profiles

The Honourable Howard Alexander Callaghan was born in Ottawa in 1927. He grew up in Ottawa, obtained both an academic and football education at Glebe Collegiate before progressing to Carleton, where he graduated with a B.A. in 1950. He enrolled at UBC and completed an LL.B. in 1953, then articled in Penticton at Day Washington under Harold McInnes. He secured his articles during an interview in Dean Curtis' office at the law school, during which McInnes tersely offered "Come to Penticton and I'll teach you everything I know."

"We were prepared to lay ourselves down for nothing. There was no guarantee that the Canadian government was going to give us the full rights of Canadian citizenship. We were taking a gamble." - Douglas Jung, Canadian armed forces, spy, member of parliament, delegate to the United Nations, Class of 1953.

Margaret Jean Gee was the first woman of Chinese descent to be called to the Bar in British Columbia. Born in Vancouver and raised along with her brother Sonny, in the city's Chinatown where her parents ran a bookstore. She enrolled in law school at the University of British Columbia just 3 years after the Law Society lifted restrictions against females of Chinese 'origin' joining the profession. Gee graduated in 1953 and was called to the Bar in 1954. She soon opened her own law office at 510 West Hastings.

Professor Thomas Martin Franck (‘53), a well-known expert in international law,passed away on May 27, 2009, in his Manhattan home after battling cancer. Professor Franck received his LL.B. from the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law in 1953. He went on to study at Harvard, where he earned a master’s of law degree in 1954 and a doctorate of juridical science in 1959. He joined the New York University School of Law Faculty in 1960, where he remained on Faculty and as the Director of the Center for International Studies until his retirement in 2002.

Frederick Howard Herbert passed away on July 19, 2014 at the age of 85. Mr. Herbert was born in Edmonton, Alberta and earned both his B.A. and LL.B from UBC. He had an extensive practice in both civil and criminal law for the Federal and Provincial Crown and the Supreme Court of BC. Mr. Herbert was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1970 and was a member of the bar for 60 years. He was chairperson of the Pacific Regional Counsel which was the senior advisory body to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Mr. Herbert and his wife retired to Halfmoon Bay where he presented courses in law.

His work with Alfred Bull, who was affectionately (I trust) known as "Bully", exposed Harvey to a wide range of litigation experience and the odd acerbic comment from the Court of Appeal ("Your argument, Mr. Bull, sounds like a little Bull and a lot of Bowering"). Among their more notorious cases in the late 1950s were the lengthy criminal and civil proceedings arising out of the tribulations of Robert Summers, the minister of lands and forests accused and convicted of accepting bribes.

March 13, 1928 - October 9, 2019

The Honourable Patricia Mathilda Proudfoot, beloved by her extended family and an even broader circle of friends and colleagues, died peacefully at home on October 9, 2019, age 91. A singular woman, she combined a judicial career marked by firsts with a full private life. Pat valued relationships. She built and maintained these across generations and continents, in all aspects and at every stage of her life. She will be remembered with love, with laughter and with deep respect for her strength of character, courage and life accomplishments.

Born in Neidpath, Saskatchewan, in 1927, Frank Karwandy came from a family with roots in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Keen on education, his father served as a councillor and reeve in the Municipality of Lawtonia. Frank was educated locally in one and two room schools, in high school in Herbert, Saskatchewan, and came to UBC in 1947 to study History, English, and French. He entered UBC law school in 1949, when he was twenty-one.

The legends of Peter Manson’s dynamic energy continue to be repeated in the corridors of Ladner Downs. They say his voice can still be heard haunting the word processing rooms after midnight, although he departed that scene in 1976. In that year, he joined the legal department of Cominco Ltd. Ultimately to become its head and general counsel ... 

"I have no intention of slowing down. I'm having too much fun," said 81-year-old Morley Koffman, QC, who continues to work from 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day, although he admits that these are shorter days compared to when he first began as founding partner at Koffman Kalef LLP 18 years ago.

"I enjoy the challenge of negotiation, but most of all I enjoy the people. You're dealing with people from different industries and with different views of the world. It brings a broad perspective to life."

The Honourable Madam Justice Southin was a woman of “firsts”: she was the first woman to article at Bull Housser, the first woman appointed Queen’s Counsel, and the first woman Treasurer of the Law Society of British Columbia. Looking back on her career, she confesses that she never felt that the profession ever once stood in her way. Rather, she credits her success to the help she received from others. “I couldn’t have done what I did,” she admits, “without tremendous help.”

British Columbia admitted its first Chinese Canadian lawyer in 1953, when Andy Joe was admitted to the bar by the law society. Born in Victoria in 1926, Joe served during World War II in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and was discharged in 1946.

Stanley Harold Winfield was born and raised in Calgary, along with his three older brothers. Unable to enlist at the start of the Second World War, Winfield was accepted to the Royal Canadian Air Force shortly after his 18th birthday in August 1941. He wanted to be a pilot but was unfortunately assigned to administrative duties due to the discovery that he was colour blind. He served assignments in Newfoundland and London before being shipped to direct large Allied forces through Holland and into Germany.

George Stewart Cumming (also known as George S. Cumming, George Scumming and X. Xumminf, Esq. (see page 61)) will become Master Treasurer January 1, 1983. George was born in Vancouver, B.C. in 1928. George’s father was with the Bank of Montreal which resulted in the family moving to Victoria, B.C. where George attended Oak Bay High School. There he excelled scholastically and as a rugger player. It is reliably reported that on a fairly regular basis he was separated from his rugby shorts both before, during and after rugger games ... 

The Court of Appeal soon learned how stubborn Marv could be. Both Ken and others told me of Marvin's reaction to being overturned by the Court of Appeal. In sentencing two impaired drivers, Marvin referred to the increase in the number of impaired drivers in Salmon Arm. Instead of imposing the usual $500 fine, he imposed fines of $2,000. After finding that Marvin had erred, the court again fined the offenders $500. The next week Marvin again imposed fines of $2,000.

Dr. Constance Isherwood, QC passed away on January 26, 2021 at the age of 101. For more information, read a Times Colonist article about her remarkable life and work as the province's oldest practicing lawyer. The following profile was created by the law school as a monthly alumni feature in 2011.

Last year marked the 25th anniversary of Big Rock Brewery and for Ed McNally, it was the perfect excuse to throw another beer bash. Ed founded Big Rock Brewery in 1985 after decades of practicing law, farming and raising cattle. An Alberta native, Ed attended UBC Law in the army-hut days of the 1950s before there was a brick-and-mortar facility. “It was one of my smarter choices in life, going to UBC,” he says wistfully, recalling the dark foggy campus nights, an “interesting” roster of professors and classmates, and the formidable University President and law scholar Norman Mackenzie.

“What in hell is the Jokers Club?” reads the first line of a Ubyssey article published in October, 1945. “A club for all nitwits, screwballs, and zanies,” was the answer of Alan Beesley, founding member, Noise Joker and club publicity man. “We are lunatics at large.” The Jokers Club is the first thing Beesley mentions now when asked about his years at UBC. “I was so busy I had to take every second day off from my studies,” he deadpans.

For the first time since the early 1950’s (when William Haldane served as Master Treasurer), a Master Treasurer will hail from Victoria. This is not an insignificant feat when one considers that to lay claim to this office one must serve long and sufficiently well to achieve re-election at least three times over, and perhaps most importantly, if from Victoria, must survive many years of almost weekly round trips in the not so friendly skies of what was until recently known as “Scare-West”! ... 

Diana M. Priestly, who has served as Law Librarian and a member of the Faculty at both of the Province’s law schools, will retire from her position at the University of Victoria on June 30, 1987. Her association with the law and the legal profession in British Columbia began in January, 1946 when she enrolled in the Special Veteran’s Class at the U.B.C. Faculty of law. Prior to enrolling, she had served in the Womens’ Royal Canadian Naval Service from 1943-46 …