Law History Profiles

The political activism of Ujjal Dosanjh, British Columbia’s 33rd premier, was bred in the bone. Growing up in the Punjab in the early days of India’s hard-won independence, he has many childhood memories of the lively political debates that constituted dinner conversation in the Dosanjh household. He learned at a young age the value of being able to vigorously disagree with an opponent while maintaining personal respect ...

Barbara Jo Nelson was born Barbara Jo Branston in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, a few years ago. Sometime later, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Calgary as Barbara Jo Froese. She then moved to Vancouver and obtained her law degree from the University of British Columbia in 1976, and was called to the Bar of British Columbia in 1977 ...

Peeter Wesik is a proud UBC alumnus. He first graduated with a BA in political science in 1973, and then with an LLB in 1976. Mr. Wesik has been a long-time supporter of UBC, making donations to Athletics, the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Law. A student lounge is named in Mr. Wesik's honour through a generous gift by the Wesik family to the Building Project.

The journey to the president’s desk is long and arduous for any bencher and particularly so for a sole practitioner, barrister, father of six and aspiring farmer from Prince George. We have known and enjoyed Richard for many years here in Cariboo County and have seen first-hand the scrupulous and unstinting effort and energy that he devotes to his bencher duties and Law Society initiatives. Our members and the public have a tireless worker in this president ...

After graduating from UBC in 1971 with a BA in Film Production and English and then traveling through Europe and Asia for a year, Peter Grant was without work. An employment counselor asked him what he was trained to do, and he answered, “‘I’m in film. I want to be a film producer.’ And she said, ‘Have you got any other options?’ And I said, “Well, I’ve been accepted to law school, but I don’t really want to go.’ So she said, ‘Go to law school. There is no future in film in this country.’” Grant went to law school ... 

“Pure synchronicity” is the phrase Louise Mandell uses to describe the process by which she arrived at UBC for law school. Teaching certificate, education degree and some traveling under her belt, she says, “I had no clue what I was going to do. So I applied randomly to the London School of Economics, Simon Fraser University’s grad program in communications, UBC law school … and UBC’s [acceptance] came in first. Cosmic lottery.”

On November 8, 2013, the Honourable Justice Christopher Hinkson was sworn in as the sixteenth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. His appointment was universally well received by the court, the bar and the public…

When J. Parker MacCarthy left lovely Cobble Hill for Quebec City in mid-August this year, he went as one of Vancouver Island’s more experienced and admired general practitioners. He returned a little later as President of the B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association – a fitting tribute for a fine person. He is the first President from the Island and only the second from outside the Lower Mainland … 

"One of the things as a lawyer is you don't often get to see physical manifestations of what you've done...but to see a physical manifestation, whether it's that I go up to Whistler and drive along the Sea to Sky Highway, or I go to a hospital or a school that I was involved in, it's really satisfying. It justifies the hard work." - Anne Stewart, QC, YMCA Woman of Distinction, Canada's Top 25 Woman Lawyers, Public-Private Partnership Projects Pioneer, Class of 1975.

The current president of the law society was recognized, early in life, as a person of considerable intellect when at the tender age of 17 he led to the Burnaby Central High School “Reach for the Top” team. His athletic skills were not quite as remarkable, although it may be that the number of times he banged his head on the mat in wrestling matches was part of the process through which sense was knocked into it …

Born and raised in New Zealand, Professor Paterson attained a law degree in 1969 (coming first in his year) from the Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand’s first Maori woman lawyer was a classmate). His next step was graduate school at Stanford University in California, followed by a professorship at Allard School of Law in 1975.

Each of Brad's three names is rooted in that family history: "Bradford" is after Governor Bradford, an early governor of the Plymouth colony; Mr.

Wanda Dorosz is founder, president and chief executive officer of the Quorum Group of Companies, a Toronto-based funds manager that has specialized in technology-based investing, real estate funds management and growth capital investing since 1987. Ms. Dorosz is the first Canadian woman ever to launch a venture capital firm.

Just a dozen years after hanging out her shingle in Maple Tree Square, Jo-Ann Prowse was appointed to the County Court of Vancouver in December of 1986.

T.E. (known to everyone as Terry) La Liberté is the incoming President of the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association. A long time B.C.A. “groupie”, Terry practices predominantly in criminal and some civil litigation with his law firm, La Liberte Rich. Terry began life in Ste. Catherines, Ontario. He thought better of this at a relatively early age, however, and relocated with his family to New Westminster where his father was a barber …

The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, P.C., C.C. was the first woman to hold the distinguished position of Chief Justice of Canada. Her vision for Canada reflected her adept interpretation of Canadian constitutional law and her groundbreaking decisions and rulings, which significantly contributed to the evolution of our country.

Patricia Colleen Connor was born January 20, 1950 in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. She moved when very young to Vancouver with her mother, her sister Jeannie, and her aunt. Graduating first from Sir Winston Churchill High School, then UBC Law in 1974, she was called to the bar the next year, in 1975.

Madam Justice Linda Ann Loo obtained her law degree from UBC in 1974, and was called to the Bar in 1975. She was practicing law as in-house Counsel for BC Hydro from 1975 to 1986, before becoming an associate (and later, a managing partner) with the law firm Singleton Urquhart, where she stayed from 1986 to 1996.

Madam Justice Mary Victoria Newbury practised principally as a corporate commercial lawyer. However, she was best known as a "lawyers' lawyer". At both her former firm, Ladner Downs, and her last firm, Fraser & Beatty, her partners looked to her when they were confronted with legal problems of exceptional difficulty. Her vast legal knowledge, her superb analytical skills and her ability to reach a conclusion speedily were renowned.

“I grew up in, well we called it ‘Haney’ in my day, it became Maple Ridge Later. It was a district in Maple Ridge but it was compromised of Haney, Hammond … I grew up there and went to Maple Ridge High school. I graduated in 1959. My dad was in shoe repair until he passed away in ’88. He was working still, he passed away from a heart attack. My mother was the owner of a fabric store – she co-owned the fabric store for years. I  was the eldest of four, I had two brothers and a baby sister. I was involved… In those days, I was like everyone else.