BarTalk December 1999
Volume 11, Number 6

by Paul Levy

Known as “Santa Levy” to his partners at McQuarrie Hunter for his annual collections and personal delivery of food and other items for Christmas hampers, Paul Levy has earned the highest respect of colleagues in his business, personal and volunteer circles. He is an active fundraiser, board member and volunteer, involved in organizations as diverse as the St. Mary’s Foundation, Fraser River Discovery Centre, Canadian Jamaican Medical Assistance Society, Purpose Society and St. Vincent de Paul Society.

And yet, Paul remains essentially self-effacing: “I do not regard myself as being in any way exceptional at all—there are many more people who do much more than me. I do not know what all the fuss is about.”

Paul was an active member of the St. Mary’s Hospital Board for many years, and Chair of the Hospital Foundation since its inception five years ago. Friends at St. Mary’s remember a dogged advocate at a time when it looked like services at St. Mary’s were going to be cut back. “Paul is a good and thoughtful leader, with an outstanding sense of humour that has helped us get through some tough times,” says Karl Crosby, of St. Mary’s Hospital. “He’s been a blessing to the hospital—and an OK golfer too.”

Paul practised law first in his home country of Jamaica (1961), and later in England (1965) and Canada (BC Bar, 1979). He and his wife Angela have five children, among them a daughter who was a UBC Gold Medalist in medicine, who, rather than pursue a more lucrative career in North America, went home to Jamaica as a physician. She has since formed an essential local link for the Canadian Jamaican Medical Assistance Society, co-founded by her father. “He’s 100 per cent involved, and 100 per cent committed to everything that he gets involved in, not just our group,” says Dr. Ron Wong of CJMAS. “He’s a very caring, compassionate and charitable man.”

His partners at McQuarrie Hunter are equally effusive: Marlene Scott, QC, Bob Crawford, QC and Kim Floeck have nothing but praise for the role he plays in the community: Marlene says that Paul is “a man who uses soft words and hard arguments. He is blessed with many talents, and he uses those talents to make his community a better place in which to live.” Bob has observed Paul’s unique blend of “West Indian joie de vivre, English education, strong principles, and a humanitarian’s awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of his fellow man.” Kim sums up their perceptions of Paul Levy: “He has a fine mind, is extraordinarily capable and compassionate, and has a wicked sense of humor.”

We’re looking for more outstanding lawyers
If you know of a lawyer who has made a vital contribution to life in his or her community beyond the law, please call BarTalk Editor Caroline Nevin at 604.687.3404 or, if you’re outside the Lower Mainland, call our toll free line at 1.888.687.3404.

Paul Levy is a partner at McQuarrie Hunter.

This article was published in the December 1999 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.