Bio & Education
Robert (Bob) McVey, K.C. was born in Calgary and grew up in Hinton, Alberta. Bob obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1975 and degree in Law in 1978 from the University of Alberta. After completing his articles with J.W.K. Shortreed K.C. in Edmonton he became a member of the Law Society of Alberta in 1979 and he and his wife Nadia moved to Grande Prairie. Bob has practiced exclusively in the area of civil litigation for over 40 years. He focuses on the area of major personal injury cases including brain injury, paralysis, fatality and multiple fractures cases. These cases have included heavy equipment and bus collisions. He has appeared at all levels of the courts in Alberta including the Court of Appeal of Alberta and the Federal Court of Canada. He has obtained precedent setting judgments in trial and appeal courts. He also has extensive experience in dispute resolution including arbitration, mediation and JDR proceedings.
His professional affiliations include membership in the executive of the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers, the Queen’s Counsel Selection Committee and in the Canadian Bar Association. He is also a past president of Northwestern Polytechnic (formerly GPRC) Foundation, and a past executive member of the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal, the Day Treatment Centre and the South Peace Hockey League.
Bob played for the Grande Prairie Athletics hockey club and still participates in recreational hockey. He enjoyed the years spent coaching and managing minor hockey and fastball teams of his two sons which included attendances at provincial and national tournaments. He has made high altitude treks to the Mount Everest Basecamp in 2006, Machu Picchu in 2007 and Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru in 2010. He is a past president of the Grande Prairie Tennis Club and enjoys fitness training, squash, tennis and spending time with his six grandchildren.
Professional Affiliations:
- Law Society of Alberta since 1979
- On the executive of the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association for over 25 years
- Canadian Bar Association
Recognition/Awards:
- Queen’s Counsel Designation awarded in 1999
Year of Call & Jurisdiction:
- 1979 Alberta
Representative Work/Successful Cases:
- Canadian Centre for Bio Ethical Reform v. Grande Prairie (City), 2018 ABCA 154
Bob successfully represented the City of Grande Prairie to disallow the use of graphic anti-abortion advertisements to be placed on transit buses throughout the city. This case is a leading charter case on the limits of freedom of expression. - Gerry’s Well Services v. Four Winds Energy Services Ltd., 2011 ABQB 380
Bob acted for the plaintiff who constructed an oilfield facility and had not been paid. The defendant argued that the president did not receive board approval for this project and could not therefore bind the company to this agreement. Even without the existence of a written contract, Bob was able to get his client judgement for the money owed to him with interest. - Rances v. Scaplen and Greyhound, 2008 ABQB 708
Bob Mcvey, QC and Mike Hussey acted for passengers on a Greyhound bus who suffered catastrophic injuries when the bus entered heavy fog conditions and collided with two trucks that had collided moments before. With the complexity of this accident, the liability of the parties was unclear. Bob and Mike were able to establish all three other vehicles were to share fault in causing injuries to their clients. - Grande Prairie Regional College v. Crerar, 2006 ABQB 79
Bob acted for as defendants against a claim for negligence by a former student for not properly advising him on the transferability of courses. The trial judge ruled against the College and found them negligent in their actions. The decision was appealed. The appellant judge found that the trial judge did not consider the negligence of the student in not doing his own due diligence to ensure transferability and ruled in favour of the College. - Wade v. Baxter, 2001 ABQB 812
The Plaintiff hired the Defendant to move her belongings to her new home. The Plaintiff was severely injured when she was struck by a truck driven by the Defendant. Bob represented the Plaintiff in this action and helped her receive an award of $361,305. - Labbee v. General Accident Assurance Company of Canada, 2000 ABCA 176
Bob represented a client who lost her husband in a motor vehicle accident. The original lawsuit awarded her $321,672 in damages. The Defendant was under insured and she was only able to collect $200,000 from the defendant. She had purchased SEF 44 Family Protection prior to the accident that allowed for her insurance to cover the remainder of her damages. She received the remaining $121,672 and now pursued interest on this amount from her insurance company. The judge ruled against the interest being payable. - Labbee (Estate) v. Peters, 1999 ABCA 246
Bob represented the Plaintiff, the Estate of Mr. Labbee, after he was killed in a motor vehicle accident. The issue at trial was that of contributory negligence as Mr. Labbee was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. Despite the argument of contributory negligence, the defendants were found to be 100% at fault for the fatality of the Plaintiff. The defendants appeal of the trial was dismissed. This is now a leading case on the seatbelt defence. - Scorgie v. Scorgie, [1994] AJ No 916
Two brothers owned two adjacent pieces of land and had operated a farming operation on those lands. In recent years one brother took over sole operation of the farm and began transferring property out of the partnership without the other brother’s approval. Upon discovery of this betrayal, the Plaintiff had Bob represent him in the case against his brother and former partner. Bob’s client received judgement for half of the farm’s total assets, including the land and a portion of the revenue for previous years. - G.K. v. J.C., 1993 ABCA 308
Bob represented G.K. who purchased a home with J.C. After the relationship ended J.C. left G.K to pay for the mortgage on her own until she was able to sell the house at a loss 8 months later. Bob helped G.K. retrieve the $54,000 she paid for the down payment along plus amounts for the 8-month period she paid the mortgage for a total amount of $56,450 from J.C. - Nychka v. Huppe, 1991 ABCA 295
Bob represented a severely injured client in a jury trial. The jury awarded the client damages in excess of expectations. The Alberta Court of Appeal acknowledged that the award for non-pecuniary damages was relatively high. The award was still upheld, apart from the award for future loss of income, on which a new trial was directed. - Alberta Motor Association Insurance Company v. Lenza, 1990 ABCA 185
Bob represented the injured plaintiff in a jury trial. The defence attempted to call a psychiatrist as a last-minute expert witness to support their case. The trial judge did not allow this last-minute witness to testify. This decision was appealed. On appeal, the court found the trial judges decision to be consistent with the Rules of Court that required proper notice and the witness was not allowed to testify. - Alberta v. Cookshaw Electric, 1981 CanLii 1206 ABQB
This was a case where the client had performed work on crown land as a subcontractor, to which no builder’s lien would be available. The original contractor defaulted and would not pay for any of the services the client provided. Bob helped his client receive payment through the Public Works Act despite competing claims of other unpaid subcontractors.
