 He was called to the Ontario bar in 1882, moving his practice to Winnipeg, Manitoba the year after, then made his way further west, to Calgary in 1889 practicing at the firm of Lougheed, McCarthy & Beck, and settling in Edmonton in 1891 to form the firm of Beck, Emery, Newell and Boulton.He then worked as a Crown Prosecutor from 1892 to 1907, being employed by the City of Edmonton.He took silk by becoming Queen's Counsel in 1893.