He spent about a year and a half with the George office before striking out on his own. At first, he ran his office from his home on Broadway Street across from the post office. Then he moved over to newly renovated digs on South Railway Street, renting space where Southwest Agencies is now located. In 1986, he purchased the old post office on the same street, the home to a number of different business ventures, and moved in. It has been his home base ever since.
Practicing law in a small community is different than a city. As Waldron explained, law offices in places like Winnipeg will have lawyers with a specialty litigation or real estate law. In a small community, you have to be prepared to deal with many different aspects of the law.
“In the country, it is tough to say you are only dealing in one area,” Waldron stated. “It is like a doctor. They end up diagnosing all kinds of things. It is an advantage having a broad view.”
He said he did a fair bit of criminal law in his year with the Crown, and later did some litigation. However, it was real estate, estates and corporate law that were his bread and butter.
Waldron was obviously reluctant to discuss actual cases in detail for professional reasons. He said there were some big cases won over the years that were satisfying. It was the less prominent ones sometimes that left their mark.
“Some cases, there were little things to most people that were important to the clients. To be able to help them in those situations were what I enjoyed.”
He said his law office was well supported by clients in Boissevain and Minto and he had some in Brandon and Killarney as well. The surrounding rural areas were also good for his business.
The doors to the law office will not be closing when he retires from his practice. McCulloch Mooney Johnston Shelby LLP (MMJS) will be taking over next month. The company recently purchased the Franz Hoeppner Wiens office in Deloraine. Harley Sheppard will be the attending lawyer at the Boissevain location. He will attend once a week in conjunction with his Deloraine visit. Plans, however, are to have full time staff in the office within a year as business builds up.
Having someone there was important to Waldron.
“It is a small town firm, and they practice in small towns,” Waldron said. “It was important to me that the practice was looked after. If the business supports it, they will increase the time there. I was swamped. If people support them like I was supported, it will be fine.”
Despite walking away from law, Waldron is not walking away from work or even the building. He is still the general manager of Midwest Telemark, which has an office in Brandon, and will continue using his office for that purpose. He and his wife Tracey live in the Turtle Mountains and will continue there where they love their home.
He is looking forward to having some more time, as he said he put long hours into his legal profession. He wonders if he gave up too much time to it over the years. Waldron did say he could really enjoy diving in to help a client solve a problem. If he could get the results he was looking for, it was all-worthwhile.
“I really enjoyed the small successes. Law is a tough, tough job. I will be happy to have more time.”

by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff