In Memoriam: Richard “Dick” Gathercole (LLB 1965)

It is with immense sadness that the Faculty of Law announces the passing of alumnus Richard “Dick” Gathercole (LLB 1965).

Gathercole was the first supervising lawyer and director of the Faculty's clinical legal education program, initiated by U of T's Student Legal Aid Society (SLAS), when it became integrated with the law school curriculum in the mid-1970s. U of T's SLAS was a precursor today's community legal clinic at U of T, Downtown Legal Services. Gathercole also taught Civil Procedure at the Faculty. 

From Gathercole's obituary in The Globe & Mail:

His legal journey included a Bay St. law firm, Executive Director of Parkdale Legal Services, and Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General for the Province of Ontario. He was also a Professor at U of T Law School and Director of the Clinical Law program. In 1981, he moved to Vancouver being recruited to be the new Executive Director of the BC Public Advocacy Centre and was there for many years. During this time, he worked hard doing what we would call" poverty law," advocating to stop reductions in welfare rates and pushing against increases in hydro and other regulatory matters for which he became well-known. He was Chair and CEO of the BC Energy Council under the then NDP government. In1986, he ran unsuccessfully for the NDP in Vancouver Point Grey. He was appointed as Consumer Director and Commissioner of the federal complaints against telecommunications in Ottawa which he enjoyed for several years. He was an adjunct Professor of Law at University of Victoria, a guest lecturer at Simon Fraser University and Chair of the Administrative Law Section of the BC branch of the Canadian Bar Association. He was an also Director of the Vancouver Dance Centre. 

Read U of T News – Downtown Legal Services, U of T’s community legal clinic, celebrates 50 years