McEwan Partners generated immediate buzz upon its formation six years ago, and not without justification. The firm is composed of some of the most venerated litigation talent in British Columbia.
Ken McEwan, a Vancouver trial veteran, forged the firm’s identity upon splitting off from his former shop of Hunter Litigation Chambers (itself a dispute-resolution powerhouse) and cherry-picking some of the city’s other prized practitioners to bolster the bench. Those included Robert
Cooper, who himself left McCarthy Tétrault in 2013 to form his own boutique. Despite several partners departing for other ventures, McEwan Partners didn’t miss a beat; it lured solo practitioner
Arden Beddoes to its bench in 2024 and, more recently, in early 2025, it made another auspicious addition when it brought on
David Gruber – a Vancouver commercial and class actions veteran who (like McEwan) was at Farris and more recently with Bennett Jones. “Arden is very aggressive, but I think he’s a very bright guy,” opines a peer. “His legal arguments are very good, and he is commercially based. Clients hire McEwan for aggression, so I think it was a smart move for Ken to hire Arden and not have him as a potential competitor down the line!” Summing up the action at McEwan, a peer quips, “This is some of the biggest news in Vancouver right now. I feel like that is going to be the case with anything that happens with McEwan empire!”
Despite his decades in practice, peers insist that McEwan remains an in-demand force for commercial work. “As long as Ken can keep doing the work at the rate he’s doing it, he will be successful. There’s a huge list of people who want Ken on their file, and he is never going to wind down. He’s one of those people who will be doing this until he’s 75.” One of the many cases McEwan is dealing with at the moment a grain elevator that was built so poorly that it collapsed immediately.
Emily Kirkpatrick is also a noted star, in her own right as well as working in tandem with McEwan. Peers also make note that “William Stransky has popped up and is really on the rise. Watch for him!”
