Profiles

“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.

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.

Donald J MacDougall was a dedicated student of the law, as well as a gift to his own students. He was first admitted to study law in 1952 on scholarship to the Universtiy of Melbourne, where he received awards of distinction in no less than six subjects over the course of his studies. He continued his legal education over the academic year of 1958-1959 as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Chicago, where he obtained his J.D.

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 …

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.

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 ...

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.

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.

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.

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.

"When Terry told me that he was to receive this degree and that it would be conferred in London by the Queen Mother, he seemed incredulous that I would expect that he would travel to England for the event," recalls Connie Munro, "[Terry said] 'It is not required. They will mail it to me.'"

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.

Leon Getz grew up in a liberal household in South Africa where his parents strongly encouraged argumentation and debate. His father had an interest in the law and encouraged both Leon and his brother to study law. At the beginning of his career, Getz was a faculty member of UBC Law from 1962-1969 and again from 1978-1979. Looking back on his time at UBC Law, Getz, now partner at Getz Prince Wells LLP, remarks that the quality of the faculty is second to none.

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.

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.

"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.”

“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.

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.