History
W. Laurence Scott A.C. graduated from law school thirty years ago. He has been a qualified Family Law Mediator for eighteen years. He is a resident of New Westminster and Harrison Mills.
After graduating from high school, Mr. Scott attended the University of Toronto. He majored in both history and political science and received his Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in 1983.
After graduating from the University of Toronto, Mr. Scott pursued graduate studies at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia and at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mr. Scott received his Masters of Arts degree in 1985.
In September 1985, Mr. Scott entered the Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario. He graduated with his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1988.
Mr. Scott was called to the Bar in the Province of Ontario in November 1990. Subsequently, he was called to the Bar in the Province of Nova Scotia in October 1991.
In 1989, after finishing his articled year, Mr. Scott moved to Ottawa, Ontario to complete the Ontario Bar Admission Course. At the same time, he accepted a position as Special Assistant for the Opposition Critic for Foreign Affairs in the House of Commons. The following year, Mr. Scott was appointed Special Counsel to the Opposition House Leader in the House of Commons.
In 1992, Mr. Scott decided to join his mother and his younger brother on the West Coast, and was called to the Bar of the Province of British Columbia in August 1993. Up to December 1999, Mr. Scott resided in Kamloops, British Columbia and practiced primarily divorce and family law at the law firm of Nixon & Company. He also handled some criminal files, some personal injury files as well as wills and estates matters.
In January 2000, Mr. Scott opened his own law firm, Scott & Company, in Kamloops focusing on divorce and family law. He also opened a branch office in Merritt, British Columbia which primarily served indigenous families throughout the Thompson and Okanagan regions of British Columbia.
In September 2004, Mr. Scott relocated his law practice from Kamloops to New Westminster, and the Quay Law Centre, then the largest group of divorce and family lawyers in British Columbia. He served clients in New Westminster, the Tri-Cities, (Burnaby/Coquitlam/Port Coquitlam), Surrey, Langley, Delta and Richmond. When the Quay Law Centre closed its New Westminster offices in June 2019, Mr. Scott joined Baker Newby LLP as Associate Counsel. Now he serves clients in even more areas of British Columbia including the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Maple Ridge, Mission, Harrison Hot Springs, and Hope.
Mr. Scott has an active and busy law practice and has attended on matters before the Provincial Court of British Columbia, the Supreme Court of British Columbia, and the British Columbia Court of Appeal.
Mr. Scott has been actively involved in advancing the interests of the legal profession and working for greater access to justice. For three years ending in 2007, Mr. Scott served as Chair to the Legal Aid Committee of the Canadian Bar Association (British Columbia).
In 2005, he was elected a Member of the Provincial Council of the Canadian Bar Association (British Columbia) for a three year term representing Westminster County. Most recently he was a member of the Court Services Committee of the Canadian Bar Association (British Columbia). It 2012, Mr. Scott was appointed a Member of the Health Professions Review Board.
In 2014, he served as President of the New Westminster Bar Association, the oldest and most active local bar association in the Province. Mr. Scott agreed to a request to serve a second term as President of the New Westminster Bar Association for 2017.
He has also lectured on divorce and family law at the Professional Legal Training Course. Mr. Scott is qualified by the Law Society of British Columbia as a Family Law Arbitrator, a Family Law Mediator and a Parenting Coordinator. Mr. Scott has been a qualified Family Law Mediator since 2002.
In December 2016, Mr. Scott was awarded the designation of Queen’s Counsel by the Attorney General of British Columbia. Most recently, Mr. Scott was appointed a Governor of the Law Foundation of British Columbia in January 2017. He was re-appointed as Governor for a second term in January 2020. In March 2020, Mr. Scott was elected Director of the British Columbia Parenting Coordinator’s Roster Society.
