Neil McKelvey

Edward Neil McKelvey , (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.

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

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

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.

Military career 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.

In 1955, McKelvey founded the firm of McKelvey Macaulay Machum.

Litigation practice 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.

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.

Leader in bar associations

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

Canadian Bar Association 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.

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