Neil McKelvey

McKelvey, E. Neil, I Chose Law: Memoirs of E. Neil McKelvey, OC, QC, (Saint John: E.N. McKelvey, 2001).

McKelvey was recognised as a top litigator in New Brunswick, throwing himself into his court cases. He appeared more than twenty times in the Supreme Court of Canada. His last Supreme Court case, in 1990, was taken on a pro bono basis on behalf of a woman who lost the sight in one eye following a cataract surgery. McKelvey successfully argued that the evidence led at trial was sufficient to prove a legal claim of negligence. The decision remains a leading case on the burden of proof of causation in malpractice cases.

In 1986, McKelvey was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada for his community service and contributions to the legal profession.

McKelvey served as president of the International Bar Association in 1979-1980, the first Canadian to hold that post. The IBA is one of the leading international associations of lawyers and law societies. When he took the position, the IBA’s finances were in a poor shape, but by the time he left, it was on a sound financial footing. One of his major concerns while with the IBA was defending the independence of the legal profession. He stated that lawyers must have the “… courage to disregard influences of third parties whose interests may differ from the client, even though those third parties may be in a position to bring strong pressure to bear, financial or otherwise, on the lawyer.”

In 1969, McKelvey served as President of the Saint John Law Society, the local organization for lawyers in Saint John.

McKelvey was involved in the Canadian Bar Association both provincially and nationally. In 1962, he was the president of the New Brunswick Branch of the CBA. A decade later, he serve as the national president of the Canadian Bar Association in 1973-1974. During his time in office, the CBA produced a model code of professional conduct. McKelvey was a strong believer in the value of solid ethics for lawyers, and toured the country to promote the new code.

In the early 1960s, McKelvey faced a decision about his career path, when his name was mentioned for a possible appointment to the New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench. McKelvey turned down the appointment, preferring to remain a litigator. Years later, he explained his decision: “I had to choose whether I wanted to be a judge or to remain a lawyer; I concluded that the secluded life of the bench, listening to lawyers argue cases and then having to prepare a decision, was not for me.”

As a lawyer in the Maritimes, McKelvey appeared several times in cases involving shipping issues, such as an inquiry under the Canadian Shipping Act into the 1957 collision between the Saint John harbour boat and the freighter Fort Avalon. He also represented the Canadian Coast Guard before a Royal Commission inquiring into the grounding of an oil tanker, Arrow, in Chedabucto Bay, Nova Scotia, in 1970. The grounding resulted in the spill of 108,000 barrels of oil, leading to questions about the way the Coast Guard had responded to the environmental hazard. For many years, he was also counsel for the owners of the Irving Whale, an oil carrying barge that sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1970 and posed a potential environmental hazard.

In 1955, McKelvey founded the firm of McKelvey Macaulay Machum. That firm later merged with several other firms in the Atlantic provinces in 1990 to become Stewart McKelvey Stirling Scales, now known simply as Stewart McKelvey, the largest regional firm in Atlantic Canada. McKelvey continued on in the new firm as senior partner and counsel.

After he returned to Canada, McKelvey attended Dalhousie Law School in Halifax, graduating with a degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1949. He was called to the Bar of New Brunswick in the same year, and began practising with the firm of Porter, Ritchie & Riley.

In 1948, McKelvey married his wife, Joan. The couple were married for 63 years at the time of his death. They had two sons, Peter and Roger.

McKelvey was a veteran of World War II. He joined the Royal Canadian Artillery in 1944, and shipped overseas a few months later with the 4th Field Regiment of the RCR. In 1945, he was in the Netherlands when the war ended. McKelvey later transferred to the Canadian occupation force in Germany, not returning home until 1946. He remained active with the military for the rest of his life, serving as the Honorary Lieutenant Colonel of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, from 1992 to 2009.

Edward Neil McKelvey OC CD QC, (1925–2011) was a Canadian lawyer. He was actively involved in the legal profession and was one of the founders of Stewart McKelvey, the largest regional law firm in Atlantic Canada. McKelvey served as president of the Canadian Bar Association and then was the first Canadian to be president of the International Bar Association.

McKelvey was born in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1925, the son of Fenwick and Margaret McKelvey.