Man who donated $30 million taking UBC to court over law degree issue
Credit to Author: Keith Fraser| Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2019 23:26:42 +0000
Vancouver lawyer Peter Allard, whose $30-million donation to UBC resulted in the university renaming its law school the Peter A. Allard School of Law, says he was stunned to learn that name would not appear on all law degrees conferred by the university.
When he donated the money in 2014, one of the conditions was that Allard’s name would appear somewhere on the degree documents granted by the law faculty. But he learned after the agreement was made that master’s and PhD degrees in law are granted by UBC on the recommendation of the faculty of graduate and postdoctoral studies, not the law school.
“I was surprised to learn that the L.L.M. and PhD degrees are granted by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and not the Peter A. Allard School of Law, and I was disheartened to be advised that therefore degree certificates do not reference the Peter A. Allard School of Law,” says a letter Allard wrote to UBC president Santa Ono in February 2017.
Allard says he met with Ono, who promised that he would look into the matter, but that nothing was done.
Allard has now filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court challenging a decision by an arbitrator that dismissed his claims regarding the degrees.
While the graduate law degrees do not mention the Peter A. Allard School of Law, since the 2015-16 academic year, UBC’s common law degrees have been conferred with reference to the law school.
In his ruling on the case, arbitrator Neil Wittman noted that the “most striking impression” in the case was that there was not any significant dispute as to the evidence and the witness statements and oral testimony did not reveal any serious issues of credibility.
But he said it was “perfectly clear” that neither party addressed the meaning of the words “degree certificates” that are included in the 2014 agreement and that no one at UBC told Allard of the distinction involving the conferring of graduate law degrees.
He concluded that the proper interpretation of the words “degree certificates” in the agreement mean those certificates or parchments granted upon the recommendation of the Peter A. Allard School of Law and not otherwise.
“It follows that the claimants’ claim against UBC is dismissed,” the arbitrator said in the September ruling.
In the petition, Allard and the Allard Prize Foundation ask whether Wittman made several legal errors, including by failing to interpret the reference to degree certificates in the context of the 2014 agreement as a whole.
The court petition seeks to appeal and overturn the arbitrator’s ruling in favour of Allard and the foundation.
Neither Allard, who graduated from UBC law in 1971 and practiced law until 1993, nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.
UBC said in a statement that it was “pleased” to learn that the arbitrator upheld UBC’s “long-time understanding” of the 2014 gift agreement.
“Our understanding of the gift agreement with Mr. Allard was that degree certificates that previously bore the name Faculty of Law would bear the new name,” says the statement written by UBC counsel Hubert Lai. “Juris doctor (JD) degree certificates in law bear the new name.
“(Master’s and PhD) degree certificates never did bear the name of the Faculty of Law, and therefore they do not bear the new name.”
The statement adds that the university has “fully honoured” the gift agreement.
“We continue to be grateful for Mr. Allard’s generous support and the positive impact it has had for law students and faculty over the years. The university will submit its response to the application for leave to appeal in due course.”