A New Beginning, 1953-63

• Author: C. Ian Kyer
• Pages: 221-242



M C hapter N

A NEW BEGINNING,



A slow economic growth, “Canada was . . . embarked

onthegreatestperiodofdevelopmentinallherhistorya ndtradepro

duction, income and real wealth all continued a spect acular, if sometimes

jagged, rise.” Luckilyther msbusinesslaw practicewas in apositionto

grow alongside the economy, having been freed from t he personal limita

tions of Alex Fasken. Economic expansion meant that business lawyers were

much in demand. People were starting new businesses that needed to be

incorporatedorganizedandnancedExistingbusinesseswereexpanding

whichoften meant mergersand acquisitions All these activitiesca lledfor

the special skil ls that business lawyers possessed, esp ecially now that gov

ernment had grown accustomed to having a large say in t he economy.

Therewashoweveronemajorhurdletoovercomethermhad only

a few business lawyers. At the time of J.W. Pickup’s departure the on ly law

yersin therm ofeight partnerswho hadany claimto sucha designation

were Calvin, MacKenzie, and Menzel. Two partners, Aitchison and Rob

inson were aging gri nderswho conducted the rms real estate practice

JDPickupwasa litigatorof lilevalue tot herm JFRobertsonwas not

the lawyer his father had been; he had his own practice i n estates. It soon

became clear to Calvin th at he needed more business lawyers.

New, talented people began to be recruited in numbers not seen since

theturn ofthecenturyFortherstti mesincethenthe rmreachedfte en

lawyers, and then surpassed th at number by the end of the decade with

ﾆﾆﾆLawyersFamiliesandBusinesses

seventeen Signicantly none oft he seventeen was a member of the old

guard; Aitchison, Robinson, J.D. Pickup, and J.F. Robertson would all leave

duringthedecadeCalvindiedshortlythereafterbutnotbeforereestablish

ingthermasastrongcorporatecommercia lpracticeandtrainingt henext

generationoflawyerstoleaditinthelastquarterofthetwentiethcent ury

As this period of growth b egan, Calvin and MacKenzie, two of the t hree

membersofthemanagementcommieeweret hemosthighlycompensated

Theonlyotherbrightlightsont hermsimmediatehorizonwereWilliston

andMen zelI nt heSeptemb erallocation of protsCa lvin wasalone

atthe top with perc entMacKenzie was a distant second at percent

followedbythe moreseniorA itchisonat percentJDPickupWilliston

andMenzel wereallatp ercentJBRobinsongot percentandJFRob

ertsonpercentTh eremaining percentwasunalloc atedandavailablefor

bonuses or new hires.

ThermsrecentrecruitingeortshadnotbeenveryfruitfulInthe

partners tried Gordon V. Armstrong, who had articled at Mason Foulds.

HelastedonlyoneyearThentheybroughtinJohnMGu nninbuthe

lastedonly until  They were more fortunate with Fraser Fell and Bill

SwackhamerwhojoinedinandwithDavidTaylorin Bob Suth

erlandinandHarryMacdonellin

Fell was called to the bar in In his qu iet softspokenmeas ured

way, he would prove to be one of the great business lawyers of his era. He

was a tireless worker who commanded instant respect and “never made a

dum b stat ement .”Hearactedmuchworktothermandhelpedcontinue

Calvinseortstorebuilditspositionasa corporatelawrmHehisuncle

and his brother Tonywerelater said to have a bluebloodfamily air for

n an ce

JamesWilliam BillSwackhamer joinedt herm asa lawyerthe same

yearasFellbuthehadta kenadierentroadthere andwastoservea very

dierentroleHewas borni ninBarton Ontario His father, Edward

Swackhamer, was a house painter. As a young man Bill started at McMaster

University but with the war raging in Europe he then enl isted in the Royal

Canadian Navy, serving with Canada’s naval escort operations in the North

Atlanticand aaining theran kofl ieutenantcommanderAftert hewar he

nished his BAat McMastergraduating in  Hesta rtedh isar ticlesi n

HamiltonwithTheodoreLeslieMcCombsThenohewenttoOsgoodeHall

LawSchool where he rstmet WalterWil liston InTorontohe completed

his articles with John A rnup, then returned to Hamilton to start his legal