Death of a Legal Visionary
Hugh Lawford, co-founder of Quicklaw - the world's first online legal database - recently passed away.
As noted in Mr. Lawford’s obituary, he created the project at Queen's University in 1967 when he realized that legal documents could be computerized and made available in a database. This insight led to his creation of QUICKLAW Inc. together with Professor Richard von Briesen in 1973.
Mr. Lawford spent virtually the next thirty years dividing his time between teaching law at Queen's University and building QUICKLAW into a household name in the legal community. It was a system that without a doubt revolutionized the practice of law, putting an end to long days of cumbersome legal research.
In 2002, QUICKLAW was sold to LexisNexis. By that time, it had over 200 employees in a dozen offices in North America.
Some of Mr. Lawford’s other noteworthy achievements are:
· He was chosen as Rhodes Scholar for Alberta in 1955.
· He obtained his Bachelor of Civil Law degree from Oxford University.
· Returning to Canada, he joined the new Law Faculty at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and became Queen's youngest Associate Professor, teaching International and Administrative Law; and
· He was Special Assistant for a time, first to the President of the Privy Council and then to the Prime Minister.
An interesting article on his life can be found in the Globe and Mail.
Have a great day,
Natalia
Natalia Angelini - Click here for more information on Natalia Angelini.
