Primary contact
400, 1015-4 Street SW
Calgary, Alberta
CA T2R 1J4
Legal Archives Society of Alberta
The Legal Archives Society of Alberta (LASA) was incorporated under the Societies Act of Alberta on January 18, 1990. LASA is a not-for-profit society governed by a Board of Directors. The Society collects the archival records of non-government legal organizations, law firms, individual practitioners, and members of the judiciary in Alberta. LASA is the official archival repository for the records of the Law Society of Alberta. The mandate of the Society is to preserve, promote and understand the evolution of law and society in Alberta. To further this mandate, in 1995 LASA began organizing oral history projects to preserve the collective memory of senior and retired members of the Alberta legal community which has evolved into the Calgary Bench and Bar Oral History Project, the Northern Alberta Bench and Bar Oral History Project, and the Alberta Bench and Bar Oral History Project. LASA houses a legal history library on its premises. A more detailed administrative history of LASA can be found in LASA's HISTORY database.
The geographical area of LASA comprises Alberta and encompasses 11 judicial districts: Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Drumheller, Grande Prairie, Peace River, Fort McMurray, St. Paul, and Wetaskiwin.
Total Volume: 950 meters
Inclusive Dates: 1880 - 2020
Predominant Dates: 1907 - 2010
Archives of lawyers, law firms, judges, and legal organizations in Alberta: textual documents, photographs, ephemera, audio-visual recordings, cultural historic artifacts, and textiles. Other programs areas include: legal history library, publications, oral history, exhibitions and interpretation, and records consulting.
LASA has published several book:
'Lords of the Western Bench: A Biographical History of the Supreme and District Courts of Alberta, 1876-1990' by Louis Knafla and Richard Klumpenhouwer (1997)
'In the Name of Justice: Portrait of a Cowbow Judge' by Azmina Suleman (1998)
'Foundations of Justice: Alberta's Historic Courthouses' by David Mittelstadt (2005)
'The Macleod Dixon Century: 1912-2012' by David Mittelstadt (2012)
'People Principles Progress: The Alberta Court of Appeal's First Century 1914-2014' by David Mittelstadt (2014)
Monday to Friday, 9:00 - 5:00. By appointment.