Calling the Charles Stewart government "rotten" and holding a grudge against cabinet minister John R. Boyle in particular, he offered voters the slogan "get rid of the barnacles and the Boyles", a homonymic reference to the parasitic growth on the side of a ship. He may have been thrilled to see the Liberal government fall in the election but probably less so when he saw that the triumphant United Farmers of Alberta had also whittled the Conservatives down to only one seat. Once out of politics, Rutherford returned to his law practice. His partnership with Jamieson saw partners come and go. Rutherford divided his time between the original Strathcona office and the Edmonton office that he opened in 1910. His practice focussed on contracts, real estate, wills and estates, and incorporations. In 1923, Rutherford's son Cecil joined the firm, along with Stanley Harwood McCuaig, who, in 1919, would marry Rutherford's daughter Hazel. In 1925, Jamieson left the partnership to establish his own firm. In 1939, McCuaig did the same. Cecil's partnership with his father continued until the latter's death. Besides his work as a lawyer, Alexander Rutherford was involved in a number of business enterprises. He was President of the Edmonton Mortgage Corporation and Vice President and solicitor of the Great Western Garment Company. The latter enterprise, which Rutherford co-founded, was a great success: established in 1911 with eight seamstresses, it had quadrupled in size within a year. During the Second World War, it made military uniforms and was reputed to be the largest garment operation in the British Empire. It was acquired by Levi Strauss & Co. in 1961 but continued to manufacture garments in Edmonton until 2004. Rutherford also acted as director of the Canada National Fire Insurance Company, the Imperial Canadian Trust Company, the Great West Permanent Loan Company, and the Monarch Life Assurance Company. Education was a personal priority of Rutherford, as evidenced by his retention of the office of Education Minister for his entire time as Premier and by his enthusiastic work in founding the University of Alberta. In 1911, he was elected by Alberta's university graduates to the University of Alberta Senate, responsible for the institution's academic affairs. In 1912, he established the Rutherford Gold Medal in English for the senior year honours English student with the highest standing; the prize still exists today as the Rutherford Memorial Medal in English. In 1912, with the University's first graduating class, Rutherford instituted a tradition of inviting convocating students to his house for tea; this tradition would last for 26 years.