TRU Law faculty member and Kamloops lawyer John O’Fee is one of 32 recipients of the prestigious Queen’s Counsel (QC) designation. The honorary title is bestowed annually by the province upon lawyers who are considered by their peers to be leaders in their field and who demonstrate professional integrity and excellence. The 2015 recipients were announced in late December.
O’Fee, in his second year of teaching real estate law at TRU, has also been teaching employment and commercial law in the School of Business and Economics for several years. His professional experience is primarily in real estate development, corporate transactions, wills and estates—working in both private practice and as CEO of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc (Kamloops Indian Band) for a number of years.
His extensive knowledge of Aboriginal real estate development informs his teaching. The Aboriginal law content is especially significant given the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations last fall. Recommendation 28 calls on Canadian law schools to require all law students to learn about Aboriginal peoples and the law, and to address the national need for greater skills-based training in intercultural competency and human rights.
“My job is to expand my students’ way of thinking and for them to know that part of any real estate transaction involves the need to understand Aboriginal title,” O’Fee added.
The formal nomination process for Queen’s Counsel commences every September with a call put out through legal channels, and nominations are accepted from anyone other than the candidate or their immediate family. A seven-member advisory committee of high-level legal professionals ultimately makes the appointment.
“The fact that John has been named as Queen’s Counsel is quite an honour for him professionally, but also for TRU through his association with our Faculty of Law and with the School of Business,” said Brad Morse, TRU Dean of Law, noting that no more than seven percent of practicing BC lawyers may be awarded the designation.
In addition to teaching, community service has always been important to O’Fee. He served three terms on the Kamloops School Board, including three years as chair, 11 years on Kamloops City Council—including roles as president of the Kamloops Airport Authority Society, Hospital Board Chair and Audit Committee Chair—and 14 years on the TRU Foundation board, including six years as chair. He has also been recognized by the TRU Alumni Association, receiving a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995.
Currently, O’Fee sits on the Health Professions Review Board of BC and on the board of the Provincial Health Services Society, which manages an annual budget of over two billion dollars. He was honoured in 2011 with the BC Community Advancement Award.
While he is a well-established lawyer who has demonstrated an impressive breadth of service for decades, O’Fee believes it is his more recent contributions to the legal community that sparked his nomination for Queen’s Counsel. This includes his new position with the Faculty of Law, as well as work with the Law Society of BC, taking over in 2015 as coordinator for the Kamloops sitting of the Professional Legal Training Course (PLTC), a mandatory 10-week course for law graduates.
