Page 98 - ACTL Journal Win24

Not to say that John always intended to become a lawyer. He was one of the original band mem- bers of the Wild Colonial Boys, which was the house band at the Calgary Folk Club for de- cades. John still plays stand-up bass with several Canmore groups, but he thinks he might have gone into teaching had he not chosen law.
The earliest memory grand-son Brock Martland (’20) has of grandfather Ronald was see- ing him wearing a Santa Claus suit. Canadi- an Justices’ ceremonial judicial attire is a regal red gown with white ermine trim. Some of Brock’s cousins thought he was the Pope, not Santa. But from speaking and watching Ronald, not the suit, Brock learned the discipline of being rigorously log- ical. Ronald would methodically identify an issue, determine what is going on and what matters, study what the cases say and the tradition of the law, and then apply that to the case at hand to reach a de- cision. Brock describes Ronald as being very much trained in the conventional British mode: judges don’t write social policy; they determine what the caselaw directs and rule accordingly. Whether or not it’s popular, you apply the law.
Brock never felt pressured to enter the legal profes- sion. He always understood that while being a lawyer was hard work, it was important and engaging. The situations and people and facts are always changing. Brock’s undergraduate degree was in English, and he toyed with the notion of working as a journalist. He tried that out, dabbling in freelance journalism in East Africa, but realized that it was difficult work that did not suit him. He had always been interested in law, so chose to apply to law school.
Brock recalls watching his dad in court on several occasions when he was growing up, once when an opposing lawyer con- fronted him and challenged Brock’s right to be present. He was expecting that courtroom advocacy would involve high drama and the Shakespearian booming voices of the barristers. But what he saw from his father, and what he personally tries to achieve, is actually the opposite – it’s often understated. He has learned that persuasion is highly subtle. Word choices matter. Tone matters. He believes that while it is sometimes necessary to be combative, the most effective lawyers in Canada are not obnoxious or pushy.
John’s practice was mostly medical malpractice defense, where the real fascination was to become intimately immersed in the complex professional field of medicine. When an incident occurs, resulting in a legal claim, the lawyer must study the medicine of that particular field. As an example, he had a case dealing with the popliteal artery behind the knee. John said he got pretty good at that, and learned the anatomy and all the terms. When one specialist remarked that he was practically a doctor, John retorted that if he had to shift just one centimeter away from that part of the body, he would know nothing.
One of John’s most memorable cases was when a close childhood friend was sued for negligence. The friend had become a neuro- surgeon in Calgary, and since John was the senior med/mal lawyer in the office at the time, he chose to take the case. He wanted to see his friend get the best defense possible. Looking back, he is not sure that was the wisest decision, because he was emotionally involved in the case. But the claim against his friend was dismissed at trial, upheld on appeal and upheld later at the Supreme Court. After that, John refrained from representing close friends as he did not want personal feelings to obscure good judgment.
But John did continue to take on emotional cases, recalling his representation of a young man who had been rendered paraple- gic in a snowboard competition. The promoters had not met what John thought were their obligations to the competitors.
The young snowboarder was meant to be provided two practice jumps and an opportunity to inspect the landing area, but he
97
JOURNAL