86 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 1 JANUARY 2021
After completing his articles, Don decided to return to his hometown of
Smithers to practise. His son Jonathan was born in 1999.
After a few years of working as a contract federal prosecutor under
Ronald Gamble in Smithers, Don decided to take the leap and hang up his
own shingle in 2001. On the night of his birthday in 2002, and while Don
was in the midst of a multi-day trial, a fire broke out at his newly opened
office, and almost everything was lost. Fortunately for Don, he had brought
the file materials for the trial home with him, and as a testament to his
tenacity and ability to focus under pressure, Don was back in court to carry
on with the trial the following morning while his office lay smouldering.
Over the 15 years following the fire, and with Alison’s support, Don built
up what started as a small solo practice into a successful, multi-lawyer, fullservice
firm, and he mentored several articling students along the way. At
the same time, he and Alison undertook several other successful business
ventures. Don wore many professional hats over the course of his life: he
was a barrister and solicitor, businessman, entrepreneur, developer and,
finally, a hotelier. While he very much enjoyed the challenges that his various
businesses and the practice of law brought him, financial success was
never his main priority. Don’s family always came first, and he proudly considered
himself a husband and father first and foremost. When he was not
at the office, you would probably find him with one or more of his children.
He was an active father and was frequently the coach of one or more of his
children’s soccer or hockey teams. More generally, if he could, he would be
there in person to cheer them on. Don grew up playing soccer but learned
to play hockey later in life, alongside his kids. Weekends were often spent
at the local ski hill in the winter and at Babine Lake in the summer with his
family.
Don had a very well-defined sense of fairness and fair play, and he
always despised a bully. He was fiercely loyal to those he was close to and
cared about. He would do whatever it took to get the job done properly for
his clients and would always try to do so as inexpensively and efficiently
as possible. He knew his own limitations and would never take on work he
was not prepared to handle. He always had time to try to help a young person
in trouble. He had a weakness for the underdog and would spend
countless hours assisting people on a pro-bono basis whenever he felt that
they had been unfairly treated or if he believed that an injustice had taken
place. Since his passing, Alison has received many notes from Don’s former
clients who speak of how grateful they were to Don for helping them
through a very difficult period in their lives. A common refrain from his
former clients is that Don really seemed to care about their matter and that