Our colleague and friend Mark Andrews passed away on Friday, March 20, 2020, surrounded by his family.

Mark’s professional life was lived entirely at Fasken (formerly Russell & DuMoulin). His passionate commitment to the people in the firm and his clients was unsurpassed from the beginning until his too early passing.

After graduating law at Oxford, Mark came to Vancouver with his wife, Shelagh Scarth, with the goal of becoming a commercial litigator. He faced some initial obstacles in that pursuit in that he was barred from practice because of his British nationality. However, he was eventually called to the bar by order of the British Columbia Court of Appeal on June 13, 1986. Thereafter, Mark swiftly climbed to the highest ranks of commercial litigators in Canada. He was named as Queen’s Counsel in 2004 and was a fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Society of Barristers. He was a trusted advisor, offering guidance and representation to his clients on many significant mandates. He appeared as counsel in more than 120 reported cases.

Mark’s professional accomplishments were publicly recognized by the Law Society of BC shortly before his passing by the creation of the “Mark Andrews Excellence in Litigation Award”, which will recognize outstanding lifetime achievements in litigation, like those achieved by Mark.

Mark was the grateful recipient of tutelage from Bill Beradino, Q.C. and others. Mark repaid their generosity by cultivating the skills of everyone in the Commercial Litigation Group at Fasken. He was a much loved friend and mentor to many of us. He encouraged and defended us with a loyalty that was fiercely uncomplicated and complete.

Mark’s passion for his work and the law was surpassed only by his love for his family (wife Shelagh, children Robin (Kristen), Claire, Jonathan and Will and grandson Grayson).

Mark was a large presence in our court rooms, our hallways and our lives. He faced his illness, as he did his life, with courage, wisdom, grace and humour, continuing to work on a number of cases after his diagnosis including appearing successfully in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada in late 2019.

Mark will be missed but remembered, and honoured in our lives and our work.