Remembering The Hon. Brian Burrows

The Faculty of Law is saddened to learn that The Hon. Brian Burrows, '74 LLB, passed away on November 19 in Edmonton.

Born and raised in Alberta, Burrows attended the University of Alberta at the same time as his wife, Barbara, who he married while the two were students. After graduating from the faculty, he articled to Rod McLennan, KC, at McLennan Ross and was admitted to the bar of Alberta in 1975.

Burrows took a leave of absence in order to obtain an LLM at the University of London in England, where he graduated in 1977. That same year, he returned to McLennan Ross and was made a partner at the firm.

From 1987 to 1990, he was legal counsel at the Alberta Law Reform Institute, and later became a board member until 2000.

In 1998, Burrows was appointed a justice of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta and held that office at the time of his death. He was also a Deputy Justice of the Nunavut Court of Justice and sat in Iqaluit and many of the communities of Nunavut over the years.

Burrows offered his legal expertise as a sessional instructor for the faculty and taught various courses including Jurisprudence, Creditors' Rights and Constitutional Law (primarily during the 1980s).

"The Faculty of Law is proud to count Justice Burrows as one of our most esteemed and dedicated alumni,” says Dean Barbara Billingsley. “He was a thoughtful and widely respected lawyer and jurist and, for many years, he gave generously of his time and expertise as a sessional instructor at the Faculty of Law. He will be missed."