Provincial Court Judge J. Parker MacCarthy, who lives in Cobble Hill, officially retired as of Nov. 30 after almost 50 years serving in the legal profession in B.C.
MacCarthy, who was born and raised in the Lower Mainland, graduated from UBC in 1975 and after articling, he and his wife, Victoria, decided to relocate for what was supposed to be a short period to the Cowichan Valley.
“We decided we wanted some adventure in our lives so we decided to move outside of the Vancouver area for a six-month period and we went to Cobble Hill and have lived there ever since,” he said.
“I have family in Chemainus and I had spent numerous summers here so I already knew the area. I got a job with a law firm in the Valley (a pioneer Duncan law firm then known as Williams Davie & Company) and my wife, who is a teacher with a specialty in the elementary grades, became a primary consultant with the local school district (and went on to become a professor of education at Vancouver Island University).”
For almost 35 years, MacCarthy practiced law in Duncan and Nanaimo, and was the first lawyer from the Cowichan Valley Bar Association to become the president of the B.C. branch of the Canadian Bar Association and then the national president of the CBA.
He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1997 and received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2003 for his significant contributions to his community.
In 2010, MacCarthy became a Provincial Court Judge and was appointed to the Vancouver Island region where he presided in all of the northern Vancouver Island courthouses from Nanaimo up to Port Hardy and out to Port Alberni, and on the west coast at Tofino and Ucluelet.
He also presided in metro Vancouver and in the northern and interior regions of British Columbia.
MacCarthy served for a three-year term on the Provincial Executive of the British Columbia Provincial Court Judges Association, and for five years ending in 2020, he served as a member of the Court Education Committee, which is responsible for organizing the presentation of semi-annual educational programs for all judges of the Provincial Court.
In regards to advice that he would give people entering the legal profession, MacCarthy said it’s important that those practicing law should know their clients and issues well, and make sure the resolutions to their problems are cost-efficient.
“I would also tell them to make contributions outside of their practices and engage in their communities,” he said. “People have to strive for balance and that always a challenge.”
As for his plans for the future, MacCarthy said he and Virginia, who has been retired for eight years, have been very active in a number of volunteer community organizations in the Cowichan Valley and on Vancouver Island during their time here, and he hopes to immerse himself into giving back to the community even more now that he has a lot more free time on his hands.
“There’s lots of opportunities to contribute in the community so I plan to re-purpose myself and I’m hoping that my retirement will be as productive and satisfying as my legal and judicial careers,” he said.
MacCarthy said he also intends to devote more time to his children and grandchildren.
The MacCarthys’ son Cameron practices corporate and commercial law in Calgary and is a partner with the national law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais, while their daughter Alexandra is a human rights, employment and labour lawyer in Vancouver with the B.C. Ministry of the Attorney General.
Alexandra is the mother of the the MacCarthy’s two grandchildren, aged four and two.
“Both of our kids grew up here and it’s still a big attraction for them,” MacCarthy said. “We have a cottage in the Gulf Islands that has always played a large part in our family so I expect we’ll be spending more time there.”
