Resident Lyle Phillips recently retired as the longest-serving lawyer in Moose Jaw and Saskatchewan, but if history had turned out differently, he could have played for the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.
Phillips, 91, retired at the end of June after 66 years working in the legal profession — all of it spent in Moose Jaw. He initially focused on criminal law in his career, but the closer he came to retirement, the more he focused on wills and estate planning. He worked for Chow McLeod during the last 13 years of his career, before deciding it was the right time to retire, especially since he was turning 92 in September.
“I enjoyed the people and trying to help them,” he said recently. “Before Legal Aid (existed), the Moose Jaw Bar took turns doing criminal law. We were assigned a case. It was strictly pro bono, but at least people got some help.”
Another enjoyable aspect was the other lawyers in Moose Jaw, who were all good at what they did, Phillips continued. Everyone got along, they were friendly to each other, and it was easy to trust people.
Working for Chow McLeod was also an enjoyable experience, he continued, because from 1985 until 2007, he was the sole practitioner in his office and was responsible for hiring people and acquiring office space. He liked not having to worry about that during the past 13 years, where he could focus on wills and estates while working three days a week. He indicated that he would miss the other lawyers in the Chow McLeod office and the other staff.
In 2018 the provincial government awarded Phillips the Queen’s Counsel Designation for significant contributions to the legal profession, justice system and community.
Hockey scholarship
Phillips went to King George Elementary School as a youth and then later graduated from Central Collegiate in 1947. From there, he travelled to Ann Arbor, Mich., to play hockey on a scholarship. It was during his second semester when he was studying engineering that his relationship with the team turned fractious. He became ineligible to play hockey, so he decided to play in an international hockey league in Detroit.
During that time, he received an offer from Detroit Red Wings’ coach Jack Adams to attend a training camp with the team. Accepting the offer, Phillips moved to Windsor, Ont., to attend Assumption College — now the University of Windsor — where he played three years in the international league with the Red Wings’ affiliate team, the Windsor Spitfires.
“It was interesting,” Phillips said about his hockey experience. “It was pretty good hockey. There were some young people who ended up with the Red Wings. Some went to other leagues.”
It was also during his time there that the Moose Javian decided to switch his educational focus to law. He applied to the University of Saskatchewan and was accepted; he spent three years at the U of S — he was the captain of the men’s hockey team — and graduated in 1953. He later articled with his father, John E. Phillips, before the law profession called him to the Bar in Moose Jaw in 1954.
Longest-serving
It never crossed Phillips’ mind that he was the province’s longest-serving lawyer until one of his colleagues at Chow McLeod brought it to his attention, he chuckled.
Many changes occurred in the legal profession during the last seven decades, but two of them stood out in Phillips’ mind. One was a change in technology, particularly, moving from a typewriter to a computer. With a typewriter, if he wanted to change a document or add something, he had to re-write the entire thing. With a computer, it took him 10 to 15 minutes to put together a document.
A second significant change was how the profession became more citizen-oriented. Ordinary people began to have a better understanding and realization of what lawyers did.
Even though Phillips has retired, he doesn’t plan to slow down.
“I still golf a little bit. I will do a little more reading and watch the idiot box a little more,” he said. “I’m sure I will (be able to handle all the free time). We have a cottage, so we’ll also spend time there.”
