Dave McNevin – A Message from Julie

Dave McNevin, who has died after a long battle with cancer, was a wonderful person, a decent and moral man. I respected him greatly, and cherished our long friendship. He was also a great friend and supporter of the NSRLP.

Dave was a student of mine in my early days at Windsor Law in the 1990’s.  He stayed in Windsor to build his legal practice, and for some years I worked directly with him as a court-appointed mediator on employment cases. The same open, upfront, down-to-earth authenticity that had made him stand out as a student became one of his most important qualities as a lawyer in the service of his clients. Dave could not win every case, but his commitment to fairness was deep.

In 2013, I wrote a reference for one of the students who had worked with me on the original National Self-Represented Litigants Study, Kyla Fair. Kyla was looking for articles in Windsor, and Miller Canfield, Dave’s firm, hired her. I remember telling Dave how excited and happy I was that he had picked one of my very best students to apprentice in the firm. Even better – after articling, Kyla was hired back as an Associate.

In April 2014, I was invited by the local Essex Law Association to give one in a series of speeches I was giving to various groups that year on the results of National SRL Study, and what these might mean for lawyers. My reception was frosty – not unusual that year – and at times, the audience questions veered into open hostility and discourtesy. As I responded as best I could, I wondered if anyone from the local Bar would speak up? Perhaps point out that “shooting the messenger” missed the point of my speech – which was, in light of the new reality of self-representation, what could the Bar do?

As the discussion grew increasingly heated, just 2 lawyers in a room of 70 stood up and appealed to their colleagues to tone it down and listen with open minds to what I was saying. One was Frank Ricci. The other was Dave McNevin.

It was completely characteristic of Dave to intervene in the way he did.  He was frank, chastising his colleagues for their rudeness, and he spoke for facing the facts of the self-representation phenomenon, however uncomfortable they might be. He knows how grateful I was to him that night.

A year later, Kyla and Dave wrote to tell me that they were going to get married. I was so thrilled and happy for both of them. When Dave faced the challenge of managing his illness, he and Kyla did it together. They did everything they could to fight back against cancer and still enjoy their lives together, focused on what was really important to them. We stayed in touch – sharing the stories that fellow cancer patients do – and I was pulling for him just as hard as he was pulling for me.

Just last year, Dave organized a donation from his firm, Miller Canfield, to the 2^nd Dialogue Event. His support for our work at NSRLP was constant.

Dave McNevin was a good man and a good lawyer. His work and his character will not be forgotten.