Law History Profiles

Professor Michael Jackson is looking for justice. Professor Jackson, who has just won a national award for his work in advancing human rights and correctional practice in Canada, advocates on behalf of prisoners. The nature of the prisoners’ crimes – from robbery to murder – has often given the public an excuse to turn a blind eye to the suffering and discrimination prisoners may face both in and out of prison: assault by guards and other inmates, long stretches in solitary confinement, intimidation and threats of vigilante justice in the community. 

 “It starts before Vancouver Island because I was born in Coal Creek … that was a town that once existed outside of Fernie, which was once a coal-mining town. I moved from there as an infant, I suppose when the mine shut down, a lot of people moved to the Cumberland area, around that time when the mine shutting down. The town was around long enough when my father was born in Coal Creek too," explains Bill Ferguson.

On August 21, 1991, J.J. Camp became the 63rd President of the Canadian Bar Association. He is the 10th lawyer from British Columbia to occupy that position during the 76-year life of the Association ...

For over 35 years, Arthur L. Close, Q.C., has been both the face and the heart of law reform in British Columbia. He retired as executive director of the B.C. Law Institute in March of this year, and this is a suitable time to look back and celebrate his remarkable accomplishments ...

While Dave always defended all his clients with great vigour and determination, his relations with bench and bar alike always remained cordial. His candor and ever-present wit were qualities that endeared him to his colleagues at the bar, to the judges before whom he appeared and to the jurors to whom he pleaded so successfully. There are many wonderful stories of moments in and out of court when Dave brought a smile to the faces of those around him... 

“I was born in Bulawayo, what was then Rhodesia, and what is now Zimbabwe, in 1945 ... December 12, 1945,” says Dennis Pavlich, “I had a great education. I went to a Jesuit college and was actually a boarder there. The Jesuits, despite some of the negative legendary stuff around them, were superb educators. They were superb educators because, in a rather subtle way, they were very much into expanding the mind” …

Charng-Ven Chen was born in China but fled with his family to Taiwan at a young age. His father was an officer in the army of the nationalist Republic of China government. After the Republic's retreat to Taiwan, his father was ordered back to fighting in China, where he was killed. CV Chen admires his mother for her strength and compassion to raise his and his siblings on her own. 

Allen Soroka attended law school at the University of Virginia, where he recalls that every second student was the son of a governor. He worked as a criminal defense lawyer for four years before relocating to New York and working at the Federal Reserve Bank. Wanting to raise a family, he took night classes at Columbia University to obtain a Master of Library Science degree, and subsequently relocated to Vancouver to take up a position in the Law Library at UBC in October of 1969.

Ralston Alexander, Q.C., assumed the presidency of the Law Society of British Columbia on January 1, 2005. Knowing Ralston, he likely celebrated the event with a round of golf. Ralston was born in Toronto in 1944, and two years later trekked west with his parents, first to Kamloops and then to Salmon Arm, where his father established a medical practice.

Gary L.F. Somers was born and raised in New Westminster, B.C. where his parents owned and operated the city's landmark Terminal Pub. He attended law school at the University of British Columbia, obtaining an LL. B. in 1969. He founded his own law firm in 1980, Somers and Company, to serve his hometown of New Westminster. The firm has since grown to over 20 lawyers, including Mr. Somers own two sons. 

I can still visualize that race well. A rowing race in the Olympics is about 240 strokes, give or take, over 2,000 metres. You break down your race strategy into 500 metre quadrants. My partner, now Dr. Roger Jackson, and I were not the favoured pairs team. Our even making the finals was definitely a surprise to the rowing world. But we had the fastest times in the qualifying heat, so we knew we were competitive ... 

The Honourable Anne Rowles passed away on November 13, 2019 at the age of 78. Anne was a strong supporter of our students, faculty and staff and will be fondly remembered.

“I think you have to step in,” says Alastair Lucas when asked if he considers himself an environmental activist. “In my career, a lot of work [involved] collaborating with public interest environmental groups... They’re really necessary to move issues forward, to move the debate forward. I think their work and their perspective is really important.” ...

James “Jim” P. Taylor, Q.C. graduated with an LLB from UBC in 1968 and returned to the law school as a member of the faculty in 1974. He was awarded the Allard Law Alumni Association Alumni Award of Distinction in 2007 in recognition of his outstanding achievements and endeavours in the practice of law, government service, the judiciary, business, legal academe, community service or other areas that have brought honour to the law school.

Russell Lusk is the new President of the B.C. Branch of the Canadian Bar Association. Russell’s dedication and commitment to the B.C. Branch are well known. It is only recently, however, that he has attained the highest levels of the CBA. The reason for this recent success has, until now, remained a secret ... 

Andrew Schuck was born while his father was stationed in England during the Second World War, in Earlswood, in the municipal borough of Reigate, Surrey. At the end of the war his family returned to Canada and he was raised in Regina, Saskatchewan. As a teenager an athletic Mr. Schuck's won the Saskatchewan light middleweight amateur boxing champion, a title he held for two years. However, it was his accompanying sense of fair play that earned him acclamation as Football King of the Scott Collegiate High School in Regina.

Michael Franklin Harcourt, mayor of Vancouver from 1980 to 1986, and premier of British Columbia from 1991 to 1996, “never planned to go into politics.” The progression into politics, however, seemed natural for someone who decided to study law because he “wanted to make change.”

Effective January 1, 1993, Brian J. Wallace, Q.C. assumes the office of Treasurer of the Law Society of British Columbia. Brian’s career at the Bar has been a very distinguished and successful one and his tireless service to the profession, both as a Bencher and through his work on many Law Society committees over the past years, is well-known. His ascendancy to the highest office in the body that governs lawyers in British Columbia is regarded as a natural progression that is both well-deserved and of obvious benefit to the profession ...

Justin Bieber is not the new president of the Law Society for 2011. That would be Gavin Hume, Q.C., breaking all the trends in “do’s” for the last 50 years, not a hair out of place, not even while cresting a six-foot chop off Point Atkinson in his overpowered speedboat or dashing down tripe black diamond ski runs at Whistler in a perfect “Bieb”. The only thing he has not yet mastered is the “no hands flip” favoured by today’s preteens; Gavin sticks with the one-handed “swoosh” move adopted by Roger Federer as he awaits return of serve.  … 

The following profile was created by the law school in 2012.

According to Elizabeth (Liz) Edinger - and there is little reason to doubt her assertion - she holds the distinction of being the first law student in UBC history to give birth in the midst of her studies. Edinger’s decision to study law was pragmatic; law promised an income. She says that “in those days…jobs were plentiful after law school…my class had until the spring of their final year [to find a job].”