Saskatoon defence lawyer Silas Halyk leaves powerful legacy of advocacy

It was a defining moment in one of the highest profile inquiries in Saskatchewan's history.

In 2003, Justice Minister Eric Cline ordered a public inquiry into the death of 17-year-old Neil Stonechild more than a decade earlier, including Stonechild's contact with members of the Saskatoon Police Service.

Stonechild's family believed the teen had been in police custody the night he froze to death in November 1990. Defence lawyer Silas Halyk represented the then-Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations at the inquiry. 

Halyk showed close-up photos of Stonechild's face —  his body had been exhumed as part of the case's re-investigation  — on a three-metre high screen in the packed hotel ballroom where the inquiry took place, then superimposing handcuffs onto the injuries on the teen's face. The handcuff bracelets fit precisely into the grooves across the bridge of the teen's nose. 

"I'm telling you that any reasonable person in my mind, looking at those photographs and the superimposition of the handcuffs, can't resist coming to a conclusion that those are handcuff markings," Halyk told CBC in a 2005 interview.

"It says to me that, at some point in time, Neil Stonechild was in police custody."

Don Worme represented Stonechild's family at the inquiry.

"It had the impact that I think that one could anticipate it would have," he said.

"I think it's fair to say that Mr. Halyk played that with the kind of skill and delicacy that one would expect."

Commissioner David Wright ultimately concluded that Neil Stonechild had been in police custody the night he died.

Halyk, a legend in Saskatchewan's legal community, died on Dec. 2. He was 86.

Civil and criminal work

According to the Law Society of Saskatchewan, Silas Eugene Halyk studied at the University of Saskatchewan and was called to the bar in July 1962. Three years later he took a break to pursue post-graduate studies at University of Michigan.

He returned to Saskatoon in 1966 and resumed a career that would span the next five decades.

"He was sort of the last of the people that had a very diverse criminal and civil practice," said Saskatoon defence lawyer Mark Brayford.

"Most people were practising in the area of criminal and civil law prior to Si Halyk's time. But this was kind of the turning point … where people started specializing in one or the other. Si was known as a first-rate counsel on both sides of the civil and criminal law spectrums."

The Canadian Legal Information Institute gathers court judgments from across the country in a publicly accessible database. Entering Halyk's name in the search field reveals the breadth of his interests.

His name is attached to murders, impaired driving cases, personal injury cases and medical malpractice suits. He also acted as chief federal negotiator in land settlement talks with the Moosomin First Nation and Thunderchild First Nation.

U of S law professor Glen Luther was working as a defence lawyer in Alberta when he first crossed paths with Halyk. In the early 1990s, the pair worked on about a dozen cases together, most impaired driving, and became friends.    

"He wasn't a sort of detailed guy, necessarily, he's not spending all kinds of time in a library. That was sort of more how I was, I really like doing the legal research," Luther said.

"Si was more just, well, let's just look at the witnesses. Let's decide what the issue is and go for the jugular, if I can put it that way."

In the court

Court of King's Bench Justice Gerald Allbright recalled his first impressions of Halyk, who guest lectured while Allbright was in law school.

"A very imposing physical presence with his stature, his looks and his voice," Allbright said.

"He had a command of the subject matter, criminal procedure, that was unique to a highly qualified practitioner."

Allbright had Halyk first as a teacher and then, later, as a partner in their firm Halyk Allbright.

"He was very experienced, I was very energetic," Allbright said.

Allbright became a King's Bench judge in 1995. Halyk stayed in the trenches.

"He would have been an excellent candidate [to be a judge]," Allbright said.

"Si was not one to have a chief justice telling him where to sit, and when … he liked to do the things that he wanted to do, when he wanted to do them. He worked hard, but he wanted to choose what he worked at."

Mark Brayford also recalls watching Halyk work a courtroom.

"Everyone has their own litigation style and Si was unique in his ability, through words, to manipulate people, whether it was in a negotiation or on the witness stand," he said.

"He just had this ability to push the right mental button to trigger the reaction that he wanted."

Worme remembers how Halyk simply connected with people.

"He could talk to the man on the street or the executive in the highest boardroom with the same sort of casual friendliness, and he would be accepted in the same fashion."

Luther said Halyk had a knack for knowing exactly what people needed.

"He could really read courts well," said Luther.

"He really knew what a judge wanted, it was just sort of a natural ability. He really had a good rapport with clients and courts and police officers and prosecutors, whoever he had to deal with. Si was one of those guys that people just liked and respected — and, if you didn't listen to him, you paid the price."

Paying it forward

Luther returned to Saskatoon in 2003 to teach at the U of S. He stayed in touch with Halyk.

"I can remember when he came to me and was sort of, like, 'how can I do something about advocacy at the U of S?'" Luther said.

"He was really keen to see law students learn about being good advocates in the court, not just good legal learners, but also very good at the courtroom work."

In 2009, the College of Law hosted the first Silas E. Halyk Q.C. Visiting Scholar in Advocacy Lecture, featuring Ontario lawyer David Scott. In following years, speakers included Regina lawyer Aaron Fox, Chief Justice Robert Richards, national mediator Warren Winkler and senior litigation lawyer Christine Glazer.

"He wanted to get the students not only interested in advocacy, but also to learn from some of the best," Luther said.

"He wanted lawyers to be better."

Luther said you're still likely to see Halyk's legacy in any Saskatchewan courtroom today.

"I think there's probably 50 lawyers out there who would say that he was a serious mentor to them throughout their career," he said.

"Everybody around here has learned a lot of things from Si Halyk."

Gerald Allbright said Halyk will be remembered "as a superstar lawyer."

"He was the ultimate leading barrister of his day. And he was a gentleman."