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." 

Professor Thomas Martin Franck (LLB ‘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.

British Columbia admitted its first Chinese Canadian lawyer in 1953, when Andy Joe was admitted to the bar by the law society. 

"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 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. 

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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 ... 

Born on August 27, 1923, in Salmon Arm, BC, Vince Reid’s path to UBC Law was a humble one. He was educated in a one-room country school for eight years. Before completing school, Reid enrolled in the armed forces as a mechanic and as a tank driver, and served on the front lines in Normandy, as part of the First Canadian Armoured Battalion. Wounded during the assault on the Rhine, Reid spent most of the next year recovering in hospital. While in the hospital, he was visited by a Major, who suggested that he go to university.

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.

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.

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.

George Stewart Cumming (also known as George S. Cumming, George Scumming and X. Xumminf, Esq.) 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 ... 

On Thursday, August 4, 1983 Louis Allan Williams, Q.C. was dealing with the routine of filling out an application to the Secretary of State for External Affairs for a new passport. Accompanying his application would be the green passport issued to him as a provincial Cabinet Minister and Provincial Attorney General. He was thus giving up one of the last perks which came to him as the 33rd Attorney General of British Columbia ...

UBC was saddened by the passing of one its most distinguished faculty members, Dr. Charles Bourne, on June 25, 2012. Dr. Bourne completed a B.A. from the University of Toronto in 1945, an LL.M. from Cambridge in 1947 and an S.J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1970. After several years at the University of Saskatchewan (College of Law), he moved to UBC in 1950 to join Dean George Curtis at the rapidly expanding law school. In 1957, Dr. Bourne was named a full professor. Dr.

A lawyer who graduated with him from UBC Faculty of Law in 1950 told me: “I never would have gone through law school without McEachern’s notes.” That voluntary confession, apart from its refreshing candour and expression of gratitude, illuminates not only the note-taker’s generous spirit but also his instantaneous comprehension and ability to record unfolding events quickly in legible hand. Those skills have come in handy ever since ... 

Richard Fraser Gosse, Q.C., known across Canada as Dick Gosse, was a lawyer of many careers, all of them pursued with flair and verve. 

On November 20, 1997, the B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association presented Allan Bate, Q.C. with the prestigious Georges A. Goyer Q.C. Memorial Award for Distinguished Service. At a Bench and Bar Dinner hosted by Kerry Lynne D. Findlay, president of the B.C. Branch, he was surrounded by friends, colleagues and his family …