THE ADVOCATE 267
VOL. 80 PART 2 MARCH 2022
In September 1968, Keith started law school at UBC. In the summer after
first year, he worked in Ottawa as a student assistant in the Office of the
Minister of Justice, then John Turner. In the summer after second year,
Keith worked at the Vancouver Inner City Service Project, Legal Services
Program alongside Mike Harcourt, who became a lifelong friend.
Keith graduated with an LL.B. from UBC in May 1971. He maintained a
close relationship with UBC, later being instrumental in fundraising for the
new law school building, serving on the Dean’s Advisory Council, and long
residing on or near the campus. An enormous chartered bus once nudged
its way through narrow roads to bring Farris partners to the Mitchell house
on Wesbrook Crescent to celebrate the firm’s contribution to the construction
of the new law school building.
Keith applied to Farris for an articling position, citing both Turner and
Harcourt as references. After meeting Keith, Charlie Wills told Jack Giles,
Q.C., that “I think we should hire this guy. He is a real pistol” and (in Keith’s
version of the story, prefaced by the words “if we don’t watch out”) “he’ll
be running this place some day.”1 Keith indeed articled at Farris and was
called to the bar in September 1972. He remained at Farris until his retirement
in 2020.
Keith originally worked closely with Peter Butler, Q.C., who became his
mentor in both law and life. Keith himself was a superb negotiator and
strategist, with a quick grasp of issues, an intuitive sense of the law and
excellent judgment. He tended to focus on the “big picture” and leave details
to capably selected colleagues; together they achieved tremendous results
for clients, prompting devoted clients to send more work to the firm. Keith
was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1985 and promptly sent a note congratulating
the Attorney General on his wisdom.
Keith had a varied practice. In the field of labour and employment, his
longstanding employer-side clients included the University of British
Columbia and Overwaitea. He was a very good cross-examiner, often starting
with a “left field” question that rattled the witness. He was also
creative. Had it not been for the two sides reaching agreement, he would
have had laboratory rats brought to the BC Labour Relations Board to illustrate
why certain university research should be categorized as an essential
service.
In the real estate realm, Keith worked on numerous rezoning and development
projects including the rezoning of Eaton Centre, Metrotown; the
development of Granville Island; the development of Canada Place Corporation,
the World Trade Centre and the Pan Pacific Hotel; the sale of the
Expo lands; and the sale and leaseback of the old BC Hydro and Westcoast