Richard Butler

BA (Hons), MA, LLB (Victoria)

On completing law school, Richard Butler articled with the British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General and provided legal advice and representation to government in various practice areas over his entire career.

From 1991 to 2005, he represented the government on almost every major corporate insolvency involving governmental issues and interests. He was also deeply involved in developing the law on student loan bankruptcies.

In 2002, he represented the Attorney General in a charitable trust case involving the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada and claims for sexual abuse at Mount Cashel orphanage. He appeared in court in B.C. and then in Ontario, and mediated a settlement to avoid sale of Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate.

Following from that case, he developed the policy and had a leading role in the enactment of the British Columbia Charitable Purposes Preservation Act, and he later appeared in insolvency proceedings of The Land Conservancy involving the application of that Act.

In 2005, the focus of Mr. Butler's practice shifted toward constitutional and administrative law. He represented the Attorney General as counsel in important constitutional cases at all levels of court, including numerous appearances as counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada.

From around 2009, Mr. Butler has been a some-time member of the British Columbia Supreme Court Model Insolvency Order Committee and has published a series of articles and spoken at local and national conferences about how the constitutional doctrine of paramountcy properly applies in insolvency proceedings.

Increasingly during the latter years of his practice, Mr. Butler’s work involved assisting government in responding to some of the most pressing and/or politically sensitive issues of the day. For example, he provided advice on the legal challenges involved in setting up a national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Girls and Women; on the Milburn report into disfunction at the Vancouver School Board and the German report into money laundering; and he coordinated the government’s response to the Auditor General’s review of the Mount Polley mine dam failure (among other audits) and the Ombudsperson’s investigation into the Ministry of Health firings. Mr. Butler retired from government work in 2019.

Mr. Butler has taught Bankruptcy and Restructuring Law with us since 2014, as well as Secured Transactions and Creditors’ Remedies. He has also made guest appearances at TRU in classes on defamation, charitable trusts and other matters.

Mr. Butler’s commitment to the mentorship and professional development of law students extends beyond the classroom. He supports students in publishing essays on Bankruptcy Law and has created opportunities for students to attend conferences in Bankruptcy Law at a reduced fee, thereby fostering access to the practice and the profession.

In 2021, he paused his teaching with us in order to pursue a book on Indigenous politics, law and art. Once that is done, he hopes to return to TRU law to teach additional courses.

Contact

Phone:
250-361-5227
Email:
rbutler@tru.ca