The dean of law

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MacLean Everett Jones Q.C.
The dean
of law
Maclean Everett Jones
Q.C. is widely acknowledged as the founder
of the modern law firm.
But his 70-year career
almost didn’t get off
the ground.
By Michael Dempster
M
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Maclean Everett Jones Q.C. of Bennett Jones LLP was
honoured recently by the Law Society of Alberta as its first
member to practise law for 70 consecutive years.
met at Saturday night bridge games hosted by his parents.
“I probably felt I had some natural ability,” he says. “I sure
didn’t have any ability to work with my hands, or to preach
sermons on Sunday morning.”
At 16, he entered the University of Alberta, graduating with
a law degree in 1939. He articled with Chambers in Calgary for
$25 a month and was called to the Bar of Alberta the following year. He joined his principal’s firm, then called Bennett,
Hannah, Nolan, Chambers and Might, but left to serve overseas in the Second World War with the Royal Canadian Navy.
He eventually returned to the firm in litigation, but moved
full-time into oil and gas law after Imperial Oil’s historic oil
gusher at Leduc, Alta., in 1947. Years later, he switched to the
banking side of the business. In both fields, he was highly
respected for his expertise and integrity.
While he is deft at deflecting praise about his impact on the
legal profession, former colleagues aren’t as reticent.
John Martland Q.C., joined the practice in 1969 when it
was transitioning into a modern law firm, and Jones was a
mid-level partner. Martland remembers how the traditional
“English solicitor” approach — painstaking, careful, formal
— chafed against Calgary’s quickening entrepreneurial pace.
“It was kind of a cowboy culture,” he explains. “The oil
and gas guys made decisions. It was a handshake world. You
N AT I O N A L
March 2011
MARNIE BURKHART/JAZHART STUDIOS
ac Jones has a story he loves
to tell.
It dates back to May 2,
1939, when the fresh-faced
21-year-old almost ended his career with the
law firm that would later bear his name —
Bennett Jones LLP.
Jones remembers arriving in Calgary on the overnight train
from Edmonton. He had graduated from law at the University
of Alberta and was to article for the esteemed E.J. Chambers.
After 20 seconds of idle weather talk, Chambers directed
his eager protégé to research a decision on easements. Instead,
as luck had it — or not — Jones knew the case well, and blurted out the facts.
“I remember how Chambers looked down at me, over his
glasses resting at the end of his nose,” Jones recalls, chuckling.
“Then he said: ‘I’d rather hear what the judges think.’”
Chastened, Jones dutifully went to the library, found the
decision and returned.
“Looking back, I was damn lucky to still have a job,”
Jones says. “I had insulted a senior partner. He’d asked me to
look up something and I didn’t. It’s amazing they kept me on.”
Perhaps Chambers saw something special in Maclean
Everett Jones. Now 93, Jones was honoured last November by
the Law Society of Alberta as the first member in its 103-year
history to practise law for 70 consecutive years.
Self-effacing, erudite, and a good-natured raconteur, Jones
has enjoyed a rich past that includes becoming a partner
(1952), Queen’s Counsel (1955), bencher with the Law
Society’s governing body (1966-1968) and the first person
honoured by the law society with a lifetime achievement
award (1999). On the home front, he and Yolande, who
passed away three years ago, raised Craig, Yolande and Peter.
Law was always going to be his career; he had decided so
in Grade 8 or 9. Young Mac (only his mother called him
Maclean) was inspired by the neighbourhood lawyers he had
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Le doyen d’un cabinet moderne
Le parcours hors du commun de Mac Jones qui a cumulé 70 ans
d’expérience en droit.
À
21 ans, lorsque Mac Jones a rencontré l’illustre E.J. Chambers en 1939,
au début du stage qu’il voulait
effectuer sous sa supervision dans le cabinet
qui deviendra Bennett Jones, sa maladresse
aurait pu mettre en péril sa carrière.
Me Chambers lui a demandé d’effectuer
des recherches sur un jugement impliquant les droits de passage. Mac Jones a
pris l’initiative d’exposer les faits sur ce
sujet qu’il connaissait bien, ce qui lui a
valu la réponse : « Je préfère être informé
des réflexions des juges ». Mac Jones a
donc docilement emprunté le chemin de
la bibliothèque. Son stage avait officiellement commencé.
Me Jones est aussi érudit qu’humble. Il a
été tour à tour associé en 1952, conseiller
de la Reine en 1955 et membre du comité
directeur du Barreau de l’Alberta de 1966
à 1968. En 1999, il a reçu le premier prix du
Barreau de l’Alberta pour l’ensemble de
ses réalisations. En novembre dernier, le
Barreau de l’Alberta a reconnu Me Jones,
actuellement âgé de 93 ans, comme son
premier membre à avoir pratiqué le droit
durant 70 années consécutives. Le président
du Barreau, Rod Jerke, lui a également
rendu hommage, en invoquant l’esprit
entrepreneurial qu’il a apporté au cabinet,
sa quête de l’excellence et sa passion pour
l’État de droit. Mac Jones est également
père de Craig, Yolande et Peter.
Me Jones a pressenti que le droit serait sa
vocation dès sa 9e année d’étude. Il a
obtenu son diplôme en 1939, après avoir
commencé à étudier en droit à l’Université
de l’Alberta.
Il a été admis au Barreau de l’Alberta
une année après le début de son stage, puis
a travaillé pour le chef du cabinet anciennement intitulé Bennett, Hannah, Nolan,
Chambers et Might. Durant la Seconde
Guerre mondiale, il a séjourné à l’étranger
au sein de la Marine royale du Canada.
Après quoi, Me Jones est retourné au
cabinet pour s’occuper des litiges, puis a
travaillé pour la Pétrolière Impériale à
Leduc après la découverte historique du
pétrole du Puits-Leduc en Alberta en 1947.
Il s’est ensuite spécialisé en droit bancaire
et financier. Tout au long de sa carrière,
Mac Jones s’est démarqué par son expertise
et son intégrité.
John Martland, qui s’est joint à Bennett
Jones en 1969, signale à quel point Me Jones
made a deal, agreed to spend all sorts of money . . . and the
[legal] agreements were done up after that. That process
would horrify the English solicitor.
“But Mac Jones understood the culture. He said, ‘Let’s service them, and give them what they want.’”
Gordon Brown Q.C., articled with the firm in 1956 and
later worked alongside Jones on oil and gas cases. Jones’s skills
struck Brown as remarkable.
“His language would never be mistaken for that of Conrad
Black or Rex Murphy,” Brown says. “There was nothing particularly graceful about it, but it was a model of clarity. He
could write with brevity and precision. He was an expert in
putting an agreement together in clear language and in as few
words as possible.”
Jones combined his razor-sharp verbal and written expertise with a keen sense of deadlines. In the oil patch, companies
may spend weeks or months reaching a deal. By the time the
lawyer’s involved, the deal is usually in its final stages.
“There’s enormous pressure on the oil and gas lawyer at
that point,” Brown explains. “Jones understood the sense of
urgency. It’s something some lawyers never understand. He
worked like hell to get the deal done.”
Soon acknowledged as the “dean” of oil and gas law, Jones
brought millions of dollars to the growing firm. His colleagues
remember something else.
“Mac was unusual in that he could change his mind,”
Martland says. “That’s pretty unusual for the heavy hitters.
Mars 2011
est assidu, minutieux et pragmatique.
Gordon Brown a suivi un stage au cabinet
en 1956 au cours duquel il a travaillé avec Me
Jones. Il le considère comme un homme
remarquable, direct, expert en rédaction de
contrats clairs, précis et concis, et dont la
rapidité d’exécution est exceptionnelle.
Considéré comme le « doyen du droit
pétrolier et gazier », Me Jones a rapporté
au cabinet des millions de dollars. Sa bonne
foi et sa facilité à reconnaître ses erreurs
font de lui une personne exemplaire. Sa
persévérance hors du commun en tant de
crises lui a même donné la réputation de
fondateur du cabinet moderne. Un respect
qui a valu au cabinet de porter le nom de
Bennett Jones — Bennett étant emprunté à
l’ancien Premier ministre canadien de 1930
à 1935 et fondateur du cabinet en 1922.
Actuellement, Bennett Jones compte des
bureaux à Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton,
Ottawa et Dubaï.
Me Jones poursuit ses activités au sein de
Bennett Jones, tout en continuant à se renseigner sur le droit, sa passion.
Selon lui, les garants de son succès ont
été sa concentration sur sa carrière, sa
chance et le soutien de sa famille. Avec sa
modestie habituelle, Mac Jones conclut
qu’il a été chanceux de ne pas se faire congédier le jour de son entrée au cabinet
comme stagiaire. N
— Yasmina El Jamaï
They’re not awfully keen on having to admit they shouldn’t have
made a business deal, or whatever. It was a delightful feature.”
Adds Brown: “When some of the junior partners complained
about the split the senior partners were taking, Jones agreed
with us . . . it was through his strength that things changed.
When those kinds of stressors came up in other firms, a number
of people would leave. Jones kept this place together. That’s why
I think of him as the founder of the modern firm.”
That respect led to the firm’s current name of Bennett Jones
LLP. While R.B. Bennett (Prime Minister of Canada from
1930-1935) founded the firm in 1922, Brown says Jones laid
the groundwork for the company’s successes today. It has
offices in Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa and Dubai.
During last November’s tribute, Law Society of Alberta president Rod Jerke Q.C. praised Jones’s lifetime accomplishments,
saying: “He has brought to his law firm an entrepreneurial spirit, a quest for excellence in law and a passion for the rule of law.”
Today, Jones keeps an office at Bennett Jones, and continues
to read up on a lifelong passion through various publications.
Ever concise, he says a singular focus on career, hard work,
good fortune, and a supportive family provided the foundation of his success.
“It hasn’t been all bacon and eggs,” he allows. “It was a
struggle sometimes, too. And I was lucky — lucky I wasn’t
fired that first day.” N
Michael Dempster is a freelance writer based in Calgary.
w w w. c b a . o r g
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