Profiles

Professor Gilbert Reginald Schmitt, Q.C. was an adjunct professor at the law school at the University of British Columbia for 43 years. He began teaching at UBC in 1956, and over his career educated more than 2000 students in the areas of insurance law and professional responsibility. 

No one will ever challenge the right of Tom Braidwood to be ranked among the great advocates of our time. Called to the bar in 1957, he spent his first years in practice with Angelo Branca, QC. By the time Banca was appointed to the bench in 1963, Braidwood had gained notice in the profession which he dominated through the late 1970s and ‘80s. Now, after 15 years on the bench, he is back in practice and shows no signs of slowing down ...

Peter Butler, a legend in his own time, graces the cover of this edition of the Advocate. He was once described by Michael Goldie, Q.C., as appearing like a barefoot country boy who maintains an apartment in London. A cautionary note was added, however, to alert the unsuspecting, that underneath the tousled bonhomie stood a brilliant barrister able to face any opposition …

James Adam Craig was born in Sangudo, Alberta to his Hungarian immigrant parents on their homestead in 1924. He was raised speaking Hungarian and did not begin to speak English until he enrolled in school. When his mother grew tired of prairie winters on the family farm, she moved with her sons to Vancouver. His father eventually arrived in Vancouver and became a paramedic, but died tragically when Craig was 15. James Craig did not complete highschool, first leaving to work in the shipyards and then serving as a navigator for the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1943. 

David Purvis described the AA organization as "a work of sheer genius". When he died, he had not had a drink for 30 years. He continued to attend the West Vancouver branch of AA, giving much support to those who sought its ministrations. Many members say they would not have been alive today without David's help… 

Jack Austin was born in Calgary, Alberta to hardworking parents engaged in agriculture and cattle raising. After an accident his father acquired a grocery store, where Austin had his first job and learned about business first hand. He graduated from Crescent Heights High School in 1950, and came to study at the University of British Columbia, indulging his interests in History, Political Science and Economics. At the time, it was possible to start law part way through an undergraduate degree, receiving credit towards a B.A. from studies at the law school. He completed his B.A.

“You look at the CV and say, ‘Good heavens, how could you have done so many different things?’” It’s true—Ted Lee’s résumé reads like a summary of Canadian foreign policy in the latter half of the 20th century. Legal Division, Department of External Affairs, Ottawa, 1956. Second Secretary to Jakarta, Indonesia, 1959. Deputy Chief of Protocol, 1961. Head of the United Nations Economic and Social Affairs Section, 1961. Counsellor to London, 1965. Director of Legal Operations, 1969-71, and of Personnel Operations, 1971-73.

The Honourable Mr. Justice Bouck is the second Senior Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia having been appointed on the same occasion as J.A. Toy and the Honourable E. Davie Fulton on January 17, 1974. Merely surviving long enough to become the second senior serving judge would not be enough to qualify for enshrinement on the front cover of The Advocate. It is the contribution of Bouck to the legal profession and the Bench which marks him as an outstanding member of the legal community ...

The Honourable Judge Glenson Baker was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1930. He soon moved along with his family to North Vancouver, where he grew up and attended high school. He matriculated to the University of British Columbia, where he obtained a B.A. in 1952 and subsequently his LL. B. in 1955. He entered practice in White Rock with the firm of Thompson, Wilson, and Baker in 1956. He focused on civil law and never went to court, eventually leaving the firm with his colleague Ed Scarlett to begin their own partnership. 

Roy was born on April 22, 1931 in Victoria, B.C. His father was an engineer on CPR ships. This afforded Roy the opportunity to travel the Pacific Northwest. In doing so, Roy learned the value of respecting people from all walks of life, from the lowest mate to the exalted captain. Roy never forgot this lesson and throughout his life it was a hallmark of the way he dealt with people. 

John Frederick Rowan was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1932. He came to Vancouver with his family at the end of the school year in 1948, and did everything he could to never touch prairie soil again. He served in the army in the early 1950s, and participated in the 1954 British Empire Games, not as an athlete but instead to ride his Harley Davidson in the opening parade. He was also in law school at the time, and graduated from the University of British Columbia with his LL.B. in 1955. 

Bruce's family hailed from the Canadian prairies. His paternal grandfather was a pioneer in the settlement of the western provinces at the turn of the last century and served as a Justice of the Peace in Saskatchewan from 1906 to 1927. 

By the late 1940s, during his teen years, John A. Fraser was working in lumber mills and camps, loading boxcars and booming logs. It was dangerous and brutal work. There was no automation, there were no computers—just sweat, muscle, and back-breaking labour. It was then, on the tidewaters and in the forests of British Columbia’s rugged wilderness, that the future politician and conservationist nurtured his deep appreciation for nature.

“Let me add a prequel, as it were. Joan and I were two of five women in the class of 1954 who graduated in 1954. In 2004, she and I put together the fiftieth reunion of the class of ‘54, which in and of itself was an extremely interesting activity because we discovered a lot about the class, our classmates. We discovered that about half had died in that time period, because many were veterans of the Second World War,” begins Jane Banfield …

George Scott was born to immigrant parents in 1921, his father Scottish and his mother from an Irish family which were among the first to settle Ladner in the late 1800s. He grew up in Vancouver, attending Britannia High School but further schooling was delayed by the advent of the Second World War. Mr Scott enlisted and served with the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, as a pilot and flight instructor in Canada and England. 

“Let me add a prequel, as it were. Joan and I were two of five women in the class of 1954 who graduated in 1954. In 2004, she and I put together the fiftieth reunion of the class of ‘54, which in and of itself was an extremely interesting activity because we discovered a lot about the class, our classmates. We discovered that about half had died in that time period, because many were veterans of the Second World War,” begins Jane …

Mr. J. Donald Mawhinney, who graduated from law school in 1954, was a highly respected and well-known member of the legal community. After graduating with his LL.B., Mr. Mawhinney articled with Ladner Downs (now Borden Ladner Gervais LL.P.). He became an associate in 1955, a partner in 1959, and acted as Managing Partner of the firm from 1976 to 1978. In 1980, he joined Howard J. Kellough, Q.C., to establish Mawhinney & Kellough. Over a ten year period, Mawhinney & Kellough grew to become a firm of 28 lawyers whose primary focus was business law.

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.

"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.