MacKay & McLean Barristers & Solicitors

MacKay & McLean started in 1976 when Sterling McLean and David MacKay combined their service in a downtown Regina office on Cornwall Street. Robert MacKay, after working there as a legal assistant in the late 80s and early 90s, then as an associate lawyer after passing the bar in 1996 made partner in 2001.

Being an “all purpose” practice, everything from personal injury and civil litigation to criminal defenses and corporate legalese; real estate, wills, estates and family matters became the preferred areas of law the firm practiced in.  

Real Estate was considered a happier form of law to deal in. Helping people acquire homes, advising on financing options and how to reduce debt, all to assist in helping families achieve their goals.  

With wills and estates it was the duty of the lawyer to take an often awkward and sad occasion and make it easier on those planning for when they are gone or helping those that were left to deal with the wake of things past.

The culture of the family office at MacKay & McLean has guided them to become a bigger part of the community. Lawyers join the firm who also wish to be a benefit to the community.

Their support staff made up of legal assistants and paralegals accumulated through the years have been trained to not only create documents and assist in the execution of documents but are capable of answering most day to day questions regarding the process and timing of operation regarding the files they are assigned.  

It is through their supervised efforts that help make the clients experience as swift and satisfying as possible.  If language is a barrier in assisting our clients we have a stable of interpreters capable of removing confusion from the issues.

Moving forward, a large concern of theirs is the recent direction the courts have taken in an effort to increase the accessibility of regular folks' access justice. Unfortunately this is a daunting task and the efforts, at times seem pointless. The court system is expensive and cost-prohibitive to many. The changes in the legal system have led to complicated and time consuming hurdles. Mandatory mediation, judicial case conferences and pre-trials created to lessen the burden on the court’s docket, have instead led to half day meetings with lawyers and clients awaiting their turn, adding to the billable hours a client must deal with. This in itself makes an action less likely to be dealt with. If someone owes you $2,000, it is not likely you will spend $3,000 to deal with it.

This all may lead to the legal profession taking it on the chin and leave people believing that lawyers are not one of them. Being a part of the community helps lawyers keep a pulse on what is important to their clients.  Regardless of the type of law you are venturing into, be it real estate, criminal or litigious actions, the courts often take into consideration the public at large and the effects that decisions create on a population bound by them.

MacKay & McLean appreciate the importance of community and try to contribute in various ways when possible. Each lawyer and firm has their own persona and with that comes different goals. Theirs is to do things that are right. Let them help find people financing and homes. Let’s help keep people safe and when they are injured, help them get the compensation they need to get back to where they once were.

Joining service groups, municipal clubs and organizations are not just tools to help create business. Instead they are a means of joining the community. Sharing their concerns and hopes, while working on a common goal usually leads to an orderly success however the money charged by the firms to these groups often does not cover the cost of doing business. This is not done solely with the hope to work for them again in the future, but because they and their firms exist in the community.

They may work on a contingency or even pro-bono for the right client, especially if the case pertains to principles that are dear to them and their own ideologies. If a freedom of speech or discrimination file comes to light, often a lawyer will become the face of the case only to be forgotten once the matter is settled. They took it on, not for fame nor for fortune, instead it was taken on because it was thought to be both worthy and right.

Honesty and integrity is a very large part of being a successful lawyer. Clients go to them because they feel they can trust them, and they can. Often we hear how lawyers are akin to overzealous hucksters and confident men. Few realize that a lawyer’s actions are both insured and guaranteed by the law society. Governed by peers who all share the same public thoughts and armed with the powers of suspension, disbarment and oversight, the law society helps protect the reputation of the system and the community at large.

MacKay and McLean is proud of their  culture and maintaining a family atmosphere while offering our services directly to the community. Doing so effectively has led them to expand, hire more lawyers and staff and create a name that helps all of our clients navigate a complex system without losing their shirts.