258 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 80 PART 2 MARCH 2022
seven staff in just over six years. Paul was proud of the work of everyone at
Cote & Evans Trial Lawyers. He often referred to the firm as the “People’s
Law Firm”. Paul and the firm practised a broad scope of law, from criminal
to family to civil litigation, with the focus always being on individual members
of the community. Paul ran numerous successful jury trials and
appeared several times before the Court of Appeal.
Paul championed the little guy. He took great pride in forcing ICBC to
honour its insurance contracts, particularly for an elderly woman being
taken advantage of by a family member; in obtaining compensation for
injuries suffered by inmates while in the care of corrections and police; and
in obtaining parenting time for fathers, in cases where another party was
wrongfully interfering with the relationship with the children. Paul continued
to take on legal aid cases throughout his career, despite not needing to.
He was particularly passionate about helping parents who had their children
removed by the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Never
afraid to run a trial, Paul used his intellect and pragmatism to help parents
navigate and negotiate their way to having their children returned to their
care.
Paul was a great business partner. He and Phil formed an immediate
bond and quickly realized they shared a similar dream and passion for the
practice of law and building a law firm from the ground up. Paul was the
kind of business partner who never got angry and could accept not getting
his way, knowing that decisions made collaboratively, though not always
correct, would over time produce better results than decisions made by any
individual. Paul and Phil never had a single argument about money. As any
business partner could tell you, that is no small feat. Paul had an innate
sense of fairness and strove to be fair in all his dealings, regardless of the
actions of those around him.
Paul was just coming up on ten years since he was called to the bar. In
that time, he gained a reputation for being a well-prepared, thoughtful and
thorough litigator. He did not display bellicosity or bravado in the courtroom.
He used his calm but assertive demeanour and a carefully laid out
argument to present his cases. After his death, the firm was inundated with
e-mails and phone calls from opposing counsel who expressed how much
they enjoyed having Paul on the other side of a file. He was an example of
civility and professionalism.
Paul joked that the law sustained him, which was only partially a joke.
He was passionate about his work; he loved the problem solving involved
in seeking out solutions to complex legal issues. He took great pleasure in
sitting with firm members and working through a legal issue. Every lawyer