Brian Bellmore ’60

Brian Bellmore is a distinguished Toronto lawyer with a long career in corporate and commercial litigation. He received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Toronto in 1963 and entered Osgoode Hall Law School in 1964. He graduated in 1967 and was awarded the silver medal, the Chancellor Van Koughnet Scholarship for first place standing, as well as a Harvard Law School scholarship.

At Harvard, Bellmore studied labour and administrative law under Professor Archibald Cox and received a master of laws degree in 1969. While in Boston, he worked at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute on a case that led to the removal of non-job-related qualifications at the Massachusetts Transportation Authority, which had the effect of discriminating against minority applicants.

He returned to Toronto and joined the Osler Law Firm to practice labour law and civil litigation. In 1974, Bellmore was one of the founding partners of his own Toronto law firm. Throughout his career, he represented individual, government, and corporate clients at every level of the Ontario courts and in the Supreme Court of Canada.

In addition to his law practice, Bellmore served as an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, vice chair of Parkdale Community Legal Services, a member of the Law Society of Ontario Clinic Funding Committee and the Class Proceedings Committee and lectured at the Canadian Bar Association, the Ontario Bar Association, and Harvard Law School. He also served as a board member for the National Catholic Broadcasting Council and Southdown Rehabilitation Centre.

From 1991 to 2003, Bellmore was a member of the board of directors of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Limited and the Board of Governors of the National Hockey League.

Bellmore and his wife, Heather, recently celebrated their 58th anniversary. They have four children, Maureen, Patrick ’93, David ’95, Erin, and eight grandchildren.