“I want to recognize both Queen’s Law and its first Dean,” says the Honourable Hugh Landerkin, QC, Law’67, speaking of his combined present-and-future gift to establish the new William R. Lederman Visitorship. “It’s a way to say thank you for the extraordinary core legal education I received, learning with a distinguished faculty and a revered dean.
“My years at Queen’s were among the best of my life,” he adds. “I loved it here. Queen’s Law gave me my future as a lawyer, mediator, arbitrator, judge and academic. I wanted to give back to an institution that was very good to me.”
The visitorship was announced by Dean Bill Flanagan during the Queen’s Law at 60 Homecoming celebration on September 8. Landerkin, a retired Provincial Court of Alberta judge, was on campus to celebrate both his own 50th anniversary reunion and the launch of the Lederman Visitorship named for his former professor, who served as the Dean of Law from 1958 to 1968.
“I want to honour both his memory and his enormous contributions as a scholar in constitutional law and formational first dean of a new law school,” says the benefactor. “In my time, Queen’s was already one of the top law schools in Canada, and it still is. Quite an achievement!”
In August, Landerkin provided the first of what will be life-long annual gifts of $12,000. Then he committed further: a $300,000 bequest to Queen’s that upon his passing will create an endowed fund for the visitorship’s long-term support. (That was his second bequest; in 2012, he had committed $100,000 to establish “The Honourable Judge Hugh F. Landerkin, QC, Faculty of Law Conference & Travel Support Fund”.) Distinguished individuals of national or international renown in law will be brought to Queen’s for short-term visits, engaging in the intellectual life of the Faculty and often giving a public lecture. The inaugural Lederman Visitor will join the school later this academic year.
At Landerkin’s request, priority will be given to selecting visitors who have made an impact in non-adversarial justice. Over his 40-year career as a family lawyer and then a Provincial Court Judge (Family and Youth Court) in Alberta, he was an impassioned advocate for this approach and a pioneer in the creation of Judicial Dispute Resolution (JDR). Later he worked in academia: Royal Roads University’s Peace and Conflict Studies Division and the University of Victoria Law School.
It was through Landerkin’s efforts that JDR principles were established as a part of every judge’s personal toolkit, changing the culture of Canadian courts and helping disputants engage in their own resolutions. He was internationally sought after for his ability to convey principles and help people gain practical dispute resolution skills.
His decision to plan a gift to Queen’s Law in the form of a visitorship named for Lederman is a way to honour the past and enrich the future, he says. “I see the visitorship as a way to bring new ideas to the Queen’s Law community, to look forward, be creative, be courageous, envision better things, and enhance the future experience of legal education.”
By Kirsteen MacLeod