Marvin Kurz, long-serving national legal counsel for B’nai Brith Canada and its League for Human Rights, has been honoured with Peel Law Association’s (PLA) Lifetime Achievement Award.
“The award is based on a substantial contribution made in the practice of law and in the local community by a member of the PLA,” said Rae White, president of the association. “[Kurz] is the definition of a reasoned man: he is rational, logical, consistent and articulate. He’s a very giving person…. Our community holds Marvin up to be the standard that all lawyers should want to be. He is a mentor, a teacher and a pillar of his community.“Marvin is very generous with his time…. He’s a selfless person and it’s very admirable.”
Kurz served on the PLA board from 2003 to 2006 and from 2008 to 2012 and he has been chair of its ad hoc committee since 2008, White said.He is the seventh recipient of the PLA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He was given the award at the PLA’s annual general meeting held at the Terrace on the Green in Brampton last week.Kurz is a partner at Dale Streiman Law LLP in Brampton where he spoke to the Jewish Tribune by phone on Monday. He said he was “shocked” by the honour.
“I was very surprised because it came out of the blue,” said Kurz. “It was very moving that my peers thought well enough of me to give me a very significant award…. Part of their consideration was the pro bono work I’ve done for B’nai Brith and its importance to the law and to Canadian society.”Court cases he has worked on with B’nai Brith include those involving Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel and James Keegstra, who was convicted of promoting hatred against Jews, and have addressed issues such as free speech, Kurz said.
The seasoned litigator has appeared before all levels of the court from the Ontario Superior Court to the Supreme Court of Canada.He has served as a deputy judge in small claims court since 1999 and as chair of the PLA’s Peel Family Law Committee since he co-founded it in 2008. He also served as chair and co-chair of the PLA’s Continuing Legal Education Committee from 2003 to 2006 and from 2008 to 2012.
