This donor profile is from the Fall/Winter 2011 issue of Nexus.

Patrick Barry, LLB 1991, of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP Patrick Barry, LLB 1991, says when the new building plan was announced, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg was only too happy to step up and support it. “It was an easy sell for us,” says Barry. “The new building will provide an exponentially better environment for students, and will match the world-class status of the faculty and administration.”

He does, however, empathize with incoming students who will have to live through the construction. “When I was in law school, the Bora Laskin Law Library was being built; it was very much a transitional time. And our classes were elsewhere on campus, so we didn’t have a lot of that community feel.”

But he’s quick to highlight the stunning end result will far outweigh the cost to get there. “Collaborative space is extraordinarily important. The more students can collaborate, the better. And once the new building provides the badly needed community space, those critical relationships cemented at law school will prove immensely invaluable in the future.”

Says Barry: “Ultimately, I hope the new facility provides a much more pleasant and richer learning environment for a community of world-class scholars and students.”