SASKATOON — George Green has spent his legal career in Saskatoon, but he remains grateful to people in Estevan for helping him gain an interest in law.
Green was one of 12 lawyers awarded a King’s Counsel designation late last year by the Ministry of Justice. He has been practicing as a lawyer in Saskatchewan since 2003.
Green, who graduated from the Estevan Comprehensive School in 2003, recalled that he was taking Wes Kreklewich’s Grade 12 law class when Green received a traffic ticket. Kreklewich let Green run a mock trial, and then Green successfully appealed the ticket in court and won.
“From there, I thought that was a pretty exciting adrenaline rush, and definitely showed me that’s what I wanted to do,” said Green.
Ward Mowry was another teacher who was a really good mentor in pushing Green towards a career in law.
Green then went to the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, obtained a bachelor of arts and went to law school. He had a summer job at McKercher LLP in 2001, graduated law school in 2002 and started articling for the firm. Then he worked as an associate starting in 2003 and became a partner in 2010.
“I can usually tell my legal story pretty quickly. I started at McKercher, this is where I am, and I’m sure this is where I’m going to end as well," he said.
Green said he really likes working for McKercher because of the people he works with and the mentorship he received when he first started. He is one of 40 partners at the firm, so he doesn’t always get his way. But he says he’s 98 per cent happy at McKercher, since nothing is ever perfect, but when someone is that happy, he believes they should stay put.
“I do almost all labour and employment law. I started out as a younger lawyer doing a lot of criminal defence work, so I could get into court, and I still do some. I probably do 20 per cent criminal defence work,” said Green.
He compared litigation to a sport, thanks to the competitive part of trying to do the best for a client.
“In litigation, you get a claim and you’ve got to do some strategy and try to get the best result for your client. When you go to court, winning is exhilarating, and it feels like winning a hockey game. To the contrary, losing is devastating, and it hurts, so there’s two sides.”
Most matters are settled out of court, but in a trial, he said there is a winner and a loser.
He believes King’s Counsel is based on a lawyer’s reputation of doing good work in the courts, making contributions to the legal community, mentoring younger lawyers and being involved in the community, and he’s very honoured to be selected.
“I look at it as a team designation for my firm. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have the great mentors. I was lucky enough to summer with Robert McKercher when I started here, and he and his brother Don, who I got to work closely with when I was younger, were the founders of the firm. I had great mentors all the way through. They taught me everything I know about the practice of law, and I have a great team here.”
Green said his parents and other family members still live in the Estevan area and he gets home to the Energy City every year. He says he is proud to have grown up in Estevan, he marvels at the work ethic and pride of people in the city, and he looks back on his time in the city fondly.
