THE ADVOCATE 439
VOL. 79 PART 3 MAY 2021
ond trial of Guy Paul Morin and decided that law school would be his next
step. There were no lawyers in his family. So, it was big news when his aunt
picked up a voicemail that summer that Jeff had been accepted into the
University of Toronto law school—on a full scholarship, to boot! This turned
out to be a well-intentioned prank by one of Jeff’s close friends. Nevertheless,
the family was still overjoyed when Jeff received his real acceptance
into a small law school on the far West Coast.
In the late 1990s, the University of Victoria had a reputation, much as it
does today, for being a friendly and progressive learning environment. For
Jeff, it was the next stop on his life tour, as he and his one-year-old golden
retriever, Murphy, headed for the coast.
No classmate of Jeff’s can recount their law school days without mentioning
Murphy. A fixture on campus and an “amorous” guest at parties, the pup
was beloved by students and staff alike. Murphy’s human companion was
equally well regarded as the kind, supportive and unassumingly cool guy
with a hip taste in music, films and books. According to his law school
chum, Paul Pearson, Jeff was also a wizard on the pinball machine in the
student lounge. Jeff expanded his interest in the arts during this time, as he
wrote and produced a parody of the song “Summer Nights” from the film
Grease. He even took to the stage for this production, adorning a letterman
jacket and serenading his peers.
It was also during law school that Jeff discovered his passion for criminal
law. In his second year, he completed the Law Centre program under the
supervision of Glenn Gallins, Q.C. This was an epiphany for Jeff. Representing
people most in need of a helping hand, Jeff got an appetite for criminal
law that he never relinquished. After spending the previous seven
summers on the road, he hung up his trucker hat that year to work at the
legal aid clinic in Victoria.
Jeff graduated in 1998, packed his belongings and Murphy into his
Chevrolet Nova and moved to Vancouver, where he would complete his articles
with Bull Housser & Tupper. Living in a big city for the first time, and
with little money to his name, Jeff landed in an SRO building close to East
Hastings, the only home that would take him and Murphy. After a couple
of months, he relocated to Strathcona, renting an entire house for $600 a
month. The routine break-ins did not concern him enough to abandon this
paltry rent (he is of Scottish descent, after all). In any event, he owned nothing
of value (again, he is a Scotsman).
Jeff’s articles taught him many lessons about the practice of law. Most
importantly, he confirmed that his passion was criminal trial work. Toward
the end of his articles, the late Bae Wallace, Q.C., introduced Jeff to Richard