In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus Hugh Lawford

Professor Emeritus Hugh Lawford, pictured in 2001 when he was presented the Law Society Medal by Law Society of Upper Canada treasurer Vern Krishna

Professor Emeritus Hugh Lawford, a beloved former colleague and teacher at Queen's Law and founder of QUICKLAW, passed away on August 17, 2009, at the age of 75. One of Queen's Law's founding professors whose academic career spanned 41 years, he left a legacy of generations of admiring students drawn to his engaging teaching style and an innovation of lasting impact on the legal profession.

"In my view his greatest contribution to legal scholarship was his development of QUICKLAW," says former student Justice Gordon Sedgwick, Law '61, about the on-line database that revolutionized legal research in the late 1960s. "He was unquestionably the heart and soul of this development."

After discovering that Canada had no record of its international treaties, Lawford began using a computer system to track and set up central treaty registries for 19 developing Commonwealth countries. Sensing the potential for using technology in the legal field, he was inspired to launch the QUIC/LAW project at Queen's and subsequently, in 1973, to establish QUICKLAW Inc. The service would become an essential tool of the legal community across North America.

"From the beginning, he saw this as a way of making the law more available to everybody," says Richard vonBriesen, Lawford's colleague and business partner. "His view was that the big law firms could afford a large law library but that the small firms in a small town didn't have access to anywhere near the same resources. This was his way of levelling the playing field."

Lawford, who studied law at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, taught a wide variety of courses at Queen's including administrative law, torts, civil procedure and evidence. His record of public service included work as a Special Assistant to the Government House Leader, 1964-65, and as a Special Adviser to Prime Minister Lester Pearson, 1965-66.

He was always dedicated to improving the accessibility of legal research. "When I arrived at Queen's in 1964, the Law Library was surprisingly strong, although the Faculty was only a few years old," says Professor Emeritus Bernie Adell. "Hugh Lawford deserves much of the credit. He put a lot of effort and initiative into making sure that we had a first-class library collection."

"As a teacher, Hugh was very engaged and committed and had a strong professional orientation to the study of law; always challenging students to consider how they would react to a client in a given situation," says Professor Nick Bala, a former student and later colleague of Lawford's.

"He never stopped being a teacher even after he had left the classroom. He was always available," adds Justice Sedgwick.

And Lawford's availability extended beyond teaching. In his early years at Queen's Law, he regularly joined students and faculty with their spouses at the Earl St. house named Res Ipsa Loquitur for sing-alongs around the piano and on graduation day after the ceremony, he carried on an Oxford University tradition, inviting students to his apartment for strawberries and champagne. In the 1990s, he took his Trial Techniques students to Chez Piggy after class and attended every hockey game by the intramural team named in his honour, the "Screaming Lawfords," who won the 1997 BEWS championship. Until his retirement in 1999, he hosted dinners at his home for his small section students.

In 2002, the Law Society of Upper Canada awarded Lawford the Law Society Medal in recognition of his significant contributions to the legal profession. Three years later, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries renamed its award for superior legal publishing the "Hugh Lawford Award of Excellence in Legal Publishing."

"In my time as Dean, I have had the opportunity to chat with thousands of our alumni from over the years and Hugh is always mentioned by them with particular fondness and esteem," says Dean Bill Flanagan. "He was a marvellous teacher, unfailingly generous with his students, as well as a visionary in the field of electronic legal research. The Faculty is immensely proud of his many contributions to the law school and the legal profession over his distinguished career."

Lawford is survived by his wife Lillian, his children Michele, Artsci '82, Law '86, John, Artsci '90, Law '90, and Mark, Appsci '89, and his step-children Shannon and Patrick.

A celebration of Professor Emeritus Lawford's life will be held on October 4 at 1:00p.m. in Memorial Hall in Kingston City Hall. Online condolences may be made at http://www.jamesreidfuneralhome.com.

Donations in honour of Professor Emeritus Lawford can be made to the Professor Hugh Lawford Fund at Queen's Law in support of legal scholarship (contact Dianne Butler at butlerd@queensu.ca, 613-533-6000 ext. 78471) or to the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine in support of stem cell research related to Parkinson's disease (see http://www.mcewencentre.com, select giving, tribute gifts - in honour).