Ken McEwan, K.C.*

Biography

Chambers Canada consistently ranks Ken in Band 1 for dispute resolution and has noted he enjoys a stellar reputation … interviewees say he is “absolutely spectacular,” describing him as “incredibly detail-orientated” and “very talented” while Chambers Global quotes interviewees describing him as a “terrific lawyer” acclaimed for his handling of securities cases, and with a wealth of trial experience. In addition to his Band 1 Dispute Resolution ranking, he is ranked in Band 2 for Securities Litigation.

Ken was Benchmark Canada’s 2022 Canadian Trial Lawyer of the Year. He was previously recognized in seven of eight preceding years as British Columbia Litigator of the Year. Since 2017 he has been recognized as one of the top 50 trial lawyers in Canada.

For many years, Ken has been named in Lexpert’s Guide to the Leading 100 U.S./Canada Cross-border Litigators, as well as in the Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada. He is rated by Lexpert as most frequently recommended in corporate commercial litigation, and is recognized in product liability, director and officer liability, and securities litigation.

Ken is listed in Best Lawyers in Canada™ in the areas of securities law, corporate commercial and class action litigation. He is also ranked in Who’s Who Legal as a Thought Leader in Commercial Litigation and Who’s Who Legal: Product Liability Defence. Who’s Who Legal notes Ken “is a highly esteemed commercial litigator, celebrated for his exceptional track record at trial and appellate levels and expertise in complex class actions.” He is also described as “a highly regarded practitioner with deep knowledge and a wealth of experience handling complex product liability litigation.

Ken is a past President of the International Society of Barristers. In 2020, he was the 56^th and first non-American president of the organization, the membership of which is by invitation only, after rigorous peer and judicial review. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Director of its Canadian Foundation, and a member of its ethics and professionalism committee. He is a former Director of the Advocates’ Society, as well as Chair of its national standing committee, and a Fellow of The International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has been appointed by the Law Society of British Columbia to its committee on relations with the judiciary and was a long-standing member of the Attorney General’s rules revisions committee.

Ken is the author of the fourth edition of Sopinka on the Trial of an Action, a leading text on trial practice, including jury trials, published in 2020. He is an adjunct professor of law at the University of British Columbia Law School, teaching its advanced trial advocacy course. In recent years, he taught Dispute Resolution 2, covering arbitration and mediation at Thompson Rivers University. He is a past president of the Sopinka Cup Society which hosts the national finals of the Canadian law school trial moot competition in Ottawa and contributes regularly to both the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia and the Advocates’ Society on topics related to litigation and arbitration. He chairs a panel of the British Columbia Inns of Court project which was established to foster professionalism among young lawyers.

Outside the courtroom, Ken also acts as both arbitrator and mediator of commercial disputes. He is a co-author of Commercial Arbitration in Canada: A Guide to Domestic and International Arbitrations published by Canada Law Book, annually updated, and which has been cited as authority in judgments across Canada. He is a contributing author to A Practitioner’s Guide to Commercial Arbitration, published by Irwin Law in September 2017.  He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Western Canada Commercial Arbitration Society.

Ken is the managing partner of McEwan Partners, founded five years ago, twice recognized by Benchmark as Canadian Boutique of the Year, and three times as British Columbia Litigation Firm of the Year. He also provides consulting services to select clients.