After more than 50 years of practicing law, John Valeriote has hung up his robes for good and retiring. His career has seen many changes, from the introduction of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to a dramatic shift from what was once a male-dominated industry.
John is a founding partner in SV Law, which operates from an office on Silvercreek Parkway. More than 30 lawyers work for SV Law, but he opened his first office in Guelph in 1983 with just himself and his cousin Frank Valeriote.
Called to the bar in 1968, John practiced in Toronto and Guelph before opening Valeriote and Valeriote in the early 80s. After a number of mergers, the firm eventually morphed into the current SV Law.
John said he has done a little bit of everything in his career, but not much criminal law. Mostly, he practiced family law and working on subissions to city council or to the Ontario Municipal Board.
In every case,John said he remembered there is a human being he is representing who has a problem that needs to be solved.
"They may be a greedy son of a gun or they may be some poor widow — but there’s a human being at the end of everything," he said. “I like to solve problems. I like the law and the balance that the law has.”
One big change John noticed over that time is how technology has changed the law profession. In some cases it is not uncommon for a jury to have to wade through a half dozen or so banker’s boxes full of evidence when considering a case.
“Now what you can do is get each juror an iPad and say, ‘here, you can’t watch Netflix on it, but all of the documents are there and everyone has them’. It’s wonderful technology,” he said.
When John attended law school at Osgoode Hall, there were less than 10 women in his graduating class, far outnumbered by men.
Recently. John’s grandaughter Adele was accepted to the same law school.
“When my grandaughter goes to Osgoode, over half the class will be women and they are as smart as hell,” he said.
About half of the 32 lawyers who work at SV Law are women, something you never would have seen when John was starting out.
“It’s just fantastic,” he said.
John is looking forward to crossing some items off his bucket list with his wife Sherron, who he first met when he was 16 years old.
“We didn’t get married until I graduated from law school. I thought ‘how could I get married if I am still in law school?’ I was kind of stupid, but that’s the way it was,” said John.
Travelling to China is on the top of John’s list.
“I always wanted to see the Terra Cotta Army,” he said.
In his retirement, John plans to continue to work on community projects in Guelph. Notably, he was involved in the saving and restoration of the carousel at Riverside Park.
“That was a labour of love,” said John. “Now it’s all fixed up and they put a building around it and it’s going to be good for a long time.”
He also counts carpentry as one of his hobbies and plans to continue to build furniture and other pieces in his workshop.
“I can fix a lot of things, I enjoy that,” he said.
John may do some consulting work for some key clients, but notes he is now officially a non-practicing lawyer.
The way law is portrayed on television condenses it to its most dramatic bits, said John.
“It’s a concentration and its done for effect,"said John. "If you sit through some trials, most people fall asleep."
In 50 years of practicing law, John said he was never bored.
“Sometimes you wonder what’s the next thing that’s going to walk in the door, how serious is it going to be? Do we have to drop everything to deal with someone’s immediate problem?” he said.
Over the years, John said he has often given the advice to recent widows to put their life on pause as they deal with their grief.
In the face of retirement after a long and storied career, he plans to do the same.
“I’m trying to take my own advice and just pause,” he said.
