The Face of Law: Ian McAndrews

Hockey led Ian McAndrews to the bar.

Not the drinking bar (well, that too), but the bar of the legal profession as an institution.

"I was taking commerce at UBC Vancouver and started playing hockey with the law school guys," recalls Ian, now a lawyer with FH&P Lawyers in Penticton.

"They seemed to be having a lot of fun, so I thought: I can do that. So, I applied and got into law school."

The rest, as they say, is history.

Ian, who's originally from Calgary, graduated from UBC's law school in 1989 and moved to Penticton to article.

He's been in Penticton since for his entire 31-year law career and knows the city inside out.

Ian was running his own practice out of KOKM with five other lawyers when he heard through the grapevine FH&P Lawyers in Kelowna was interested in expanding into Penticton.

Ian's known FH&P partner Rod Pacholzuk for as long as he can remember, so they got to talking and determined Ian should head up FH&P's Penticton expansion.

That happened in December 2019 when Ian launched the Penticton office to do mostly family law with some criminal law and general civil litigation thrown in.

"It's mutually beneficial and good for Penticton," says Ian.

"Right now there are three of us in Penticton, me, Kristin Greenough, a family lawyer who worked in Kelowna for years, and assistant Marni Brown."

The Penticton office is also looking to hire a solicitor who can handle business and real estate law cases.

"We can serve many clients out of Penticton and the South Okanagan," says Ian.

"But, if we can't, we'll refer them to one of the 22 lawyers FH&P has in Kelowna. And the lawyer will travel from Kelowna to Penticton to meet the client. In the past, that business was lost because Penticton lawyers would have to refer out of town and clients would have to travel to Kelowna."

The Kelowna-Penticton FH&P set up means clients can benefit from the firm's full range of services and expertise of two dozen lawyers, wherever they are.

"At some point, I'll go down to working three days and week and then eventually retire, if my dog Harold lets me," says Ian with a smile.

"But, I'll do so knowing there is continuity with FH&P Lawyers and my files will be left in good hands."