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One of the best legal advisers I have worked with in 20 years. He was a true gentleman and fabulous person. I always enjoyed talking to Vic. He will be missed by many. My sympathies to his family and his colleagues at MOI.

Sad days yes! But it is hard to feel sad for a guy like Vic who had a good laugh everyday and loved everything he did. He made each person he encountered better though knowing him. He will be missed but his lesson of giving it all will not be forgotten.

Dear Jonathan, partners and colleagues of Vic,

Mia, emailed me of Vic’s passing and I, like I am sure everyone who knew Vic, was devastated and ever so saddened. I remember when he fell ill, I was to ride with him that weekend but he had come down with the flu. At least that is what he told me. The profession and indeed this life has lost a gentleman and there are too few around to lose one so young. I first dealt with Vic in the 90’s when I was with DuMoulin Black and he was on the other end of the deal. After moving offshore I assisted his clients as needs be. No matter what side of the deal you were on Vic treated everyone with the same courtesy and respect. He would never try to take unfair advantage of an inadvertent error or tolerate or countenance anything vaguely approaching sharp practice. You always felt Vic had your back but always with the best interests of his client as the overriding consideration. He practiced law and lived his life the way we all believed it should be practiced and lived, and hoped we did. He was very much a man we all would aspire to be. I didn’t spend much time with Vic over the years but I felt I knew him well. He was that type of bloke.

Please accept my deepest and sincerest condolences at this very sad time.

It may came as a surprise to many that Vic was an innovator in the pool. And a very proud and enthusiastic innovator I might add. During early morning Masters swims at the YWCA in downtown Vancouver, in preparation for his Ironman Canada race, Vic adapted his own unique style and technique while attempting to learn the butterfly. The result was a stroke that he called the “moth” and it was one he could call his own. Never again will the swimming world ever see such a force of nature as was witnessed when Vic took to the pool and performed his signature stroke – it was a thing of beauty!

To me Vic was a wonderful mentor, friend and teacher. It goes without saying that he was a great lawyer. I truly believe that I would not be the lawyer I am today if it wasn’t for Vic. In my daily practice, I often think “what would Vic do”, and even though I can no longer ask him directly, he will be in my mind (and after 13 years of practicing with him hopefully some of his excellence has rubbed off!). I remember that although we worked hard, we laughed A LOT. No matter the particular issue or challenge, there was always a lighter side – I have so many little memories of Vic that bring a smile to my face. I am grateful for his guidance and for his friendship. Vic was one of a kind and will be sorely and forever missed.

I had the pleasure to work with Vic for the past six years, and through it all he was so much more than a great lawyer. Everything said about his ability to handle delicate situations tactfully is true, but there was also something more. There was always the sense that you were the focus of his call...as if reminding you that life was more important than ‘the deal’. He will always be right.

His compassion didn’t stop him from giving you the gears, however. I recall Vic suggesting at one point that he and his self-described ‘svelt frame’ was prepared to challenge me (i.e. beat me) in a race. Thankfully I knew better than to take the bait.

I didn’t get to meet all of the O’Connor family but you could tell that with Vic, family was a priority. Last year, Vic and his son Alex came to London and joined a couple of us at Haywood in a long wait for mediocre pub food. That meeting wasn’t about the wait or the meal; it was a good friend introducing us to one of the most important people in his life...and while he was careful not to embarass (a father can do that) you could tell he was proud.

I will miss Vic as a professional and friend, and most of all for his humor and perspective. Those lucky enough to have known him are better for it.

Fifteen years has flown by since I first met Vic as legal counsel to the company I was working for. When I joined my current employer I asked Vic his opinion of the company that I was considering joining, his opinion was fair and accurate. Vic’s advice as always was given in his style as a truly gifted mentor and I took the job. As it turned out it became the opportunity of my lifetime, and if not for my discussion with Vic I may have passed it up. Vic and I lost touch for a while, but as fate would have it we met again in 2008, over a small business matter that I asked Vic to help with. As always, Vic was quick to share his knowledge and advice. We met for lunch in the summer and I was reminded again of Vic’s natural depth of caring, of how much Vic cherished his family, his work, his colleagues and his friends. I feel very humbled by this remarkable man who I am proud to have called a friend. My prayers of comfort go out to his family, whose loss is greatest of all. Vic was a remarkable and generous man, a keen intellect and a rare (sometimes quirky) sense of humor. (I will always smile when I remember the “rubber chicken” exchange. I wonder where that chicken ended up. If anyone at MOI has seen it let me know.)

Over the 30 years of my career there are a few people that stand out as being truly remarkable, memorable individuals. Vic is one of those few.

I worked with Vic as a client on a couple of occasions and each time was a joy (and it must be pointed out that few lawyers ever attain much height on the “joy to work with” Index).

Vic was so good at what he did that he operated in that rare state of consciousness where “it was all easy”. Vic’s Zen-like state was achieved through a combination of knowledge, expertise, experience, intellect and insight.

Perhaps the best part of the Zen of Vic was that, rather than retreating into old-school pomposity as some legal experts are wont to do, Vic made it all fun.

His style and energy made even some pretty unpleasant legal battles just part of life’s rich pageant. And, of course, we won every one of them.

In closing I send my deepest sympathies to Vic’s family and to the staff of MOI.

Vic touched us all and his loss reminds us to be the best we can be and to laugh every day because we still have breath in our lungs.

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