News Release
October 18, 2016

Vancouver, October 18, 2016 – The Law Society of British Columbia is pleased to announce that Constance D. Isherwood, QC (née Holmes) is the recipient of the 2016 Law Society Award. This award honours the lifetime achievements of exceptional BC lawyers and their contributions to the legal profession. Awarded every two years, it recognizes the recipients’ integrity, professional achievement, service and work in the area of legal reform.

“This is a special award within our profession. It is reserved for the truly exceptional,” said Law Society President David Crossin, QC. “Mrs. Isherwood stands firmly on that pedestal, and, for the first time in the award’s history, that pedestal is occupied by a woman. It is about time.”

In 1951, Mrs. Isherwood was one of only six women in her graduating class at the University of British Columbia law school, and the first woman to receive the Law Society’s gold medal, awarded to the graduating law student with the highest cumulative grade point average.

Throughout her long and impressive career, Mrs. Isherwood served as a role model and mentor for many young women lawyers. Her accolades include receiving the Queen’s Counsel designation in 1998, the University of Victoria’s Lifetime Achievement Legacy Award in 2006, the Victoria Women’s Pioneer Award from the CBA Victoria Women’s Forum in 2012 and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from UBC in 2015. Most recently, she was awarded the 2016 Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award from UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law.

In addition to her law practice, Mrs. Isherwood has been active in her community throughout her life. She has served as Chancellor of the Diocese of British Columbia for the past 30 years. She also contributes her time to groups such as the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Sooke Philharmonic, the Victoria Symphony and the Victoria Board of Trustees of the Canadian Scottish Regiment. She received the Canada 125th anniversary medal for community service in 1992, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2015.

The Law Society of British Columbia upholds and protects the public interest in the administration of justice by ensuring the independence, integrity and competence of lawyers, establishing education and professional development standards for lawyers, regulating the practice of law and preserving and protecting the rights and freedoms of all persons.

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For further information contact:

Vinnie Yuen
Communications Officer
604.697.5836
vyuen@lsbc.org

David Jordan
Communications Officer
604.443.5708
djordan@lsbc.org