Every Tuesday for years now, local lawyer Peter Shrimpton has met with low-income clients, offering his services pro bono to people who couldn’t otherwise afford it.
“I am invariably relieved, elated and just overall satisfied at the end of each of my meetings because I’ve been able to give valuable information to someone desperately in need of it, and in return I get an abundance of gratitude,” he said. “So, as a consequence, as I joked to my wife, at our Tuesday dinners, I apparently always seem to be a much happier, much more fulfilled person at the dinner table.”
Now, Shrimpton, principal at Mountain Law Corporation, can add to his sense of fulfillment after being named the 2023 recipient of the , a provincial honour recognizing a volunteer lawyer or law firm “showing outstanding commitment to pro bono service through our Summary Advice Program,” according to Access Pro Bono, an independent organization that assists more than 30,000 British Columbians a year.
Shrimpton will be honoured at a Vancouver ceremony on Friday, June 23, the first time the award will be handed out since 2019.
“I’m really honoured,” he said. “There are about 15,000 lawyers in B.C., and many of them give a lot of their time to pro bono work, so for me to be singled out is a real honour.”
For the past decade or so, Shrimpton has offered the weekly community clinic for low-income individuals, and the cases typically run the gamut from will and estate planning to family law, criminal law and personal injuries. Prior to that, he offered similar pro-bono services directly through the Whistler Community Services Society (WCSS). He has also offered free legal advice to WCSS and several other local community groups, including the Whistler Community Foundation, the Restaurant Association of Whistler, the Whistler Lakes Conservation Association, the Point Artist-Run Centre Society, and the Whistler Sailing Club. That’s on top of the time he’s spent volunteering on the board of the Whistler Youth Soccer Club, the Whistler Forum for Dialogue and Innovation, the former Whistler Village Church, and the Whistler Skiers’ Chapel, now the Whistler Interfaith Society.
Shrimpton applauded B.C.’s NDP government for the progress it has made on expanding legal access to low- and middle-income British Columbians, particularly through the establishment, last spring, of the , a first-of-its-kind public interest law incubator that offers a range of affordable legal services across the province.
“Our current provincial administration seems to be bringing in layperson-friendly revisions to our legal system to make it more understandable and more accessible,” he said. “I’ve been a strong proponent of that through my career. I have given probably 100 seminars, especially in the pre-internet days, on different areas of law to community groups, and now fortunately the internet does have some great resources, especially .”
After 30 years of practising law in Whistler, Shrimpton is readying to hand the reins to lawyer and Mountain Law’s longtime corporate paralegal, Amanda Welton-Hagen.
“She’s very familiar with my business clients and probably more knowledgeable than any young lawyer,” Shrimpton said.
“It’s an incredible opportunity,” the 35-year-old Welton-Hagen wrote in an email. “Peter has taught me so much during my time with Mountain Law, and I’m glad to have his continued mentorship behind the scenes for the next several years. I’m looking forward to filling Peter’s big shoes and continuing to serve the legal needs of Whistler and the Sea to Sky corridor!”
Shrimpton said he is looking forward to travelling and spending more time with his four children and new wife, Rose, in retirement. And while he will still be around to assist Welton-Hagen in the transition, he wants his clients to keep one thing in mind.
“I won’t be giving any legal advice—so please don’t ask me!” Shrimpton said with a laugh.
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