Paul McConville – A Tribute

I can’t adequately express my dismay upon hearing of Paul McConville’s sudden death at the age of 47.

Paul was a brilliant and prolific blogger whose meticulous analysis of the legal complexities surrounding the collapse of Rangers FC is unequalled in the public domain. There is no better repository on the internet for consistently well-informed, clearly thought out, professional commentary on that subject’s legalities than scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com.
I hope that his site will remain online both as a fitting memorial to his peerless efforts and as an invaluable resource for further research.

But Paul was much, much more than a legal dude who wrote extremely long, informative posts which brought some clarity to complicated matters of Scots Law. He was an exceptionally warm and friendly person, unfailingly courteous and pleasant. I will always treasure the memory of the time that I spent in his delightful company as well as our numerous exchanges via blogs, tweets, emails, texts, phone calls,etc. He was invariably good-humoured, a splendid conversationalist on many subjects and a true gentleman.

Paul went out of his way on many occasions to offer free advice on legal matters to very many people who turned to him for help and the concern which he showed for them was genuine.  If anyone needed help, he would do his best to supply it. But Paul himself knew what it was like to go through bad times. Some years ago, he suffered a serious bout of depression which took a heavy toll on his career and led to a professional rebuke. For the avoidance of doubt (as the Great Man himself was wont to say) it should be made absolutely clear that his integrity was never questioned in any way.
However, to his immense credit, Paul never shied away from his personal responsibility for his own mistakes. He sought no excuses. He took his medicine like a man and gradually restored his position through sheer hard work and dedicated professionalism.  He gratefully and unhesitatingly acknowledged that he drew great strength in those challenging times from both his family and his personal religious faith.

Paul had great personal charm. He was self-effacing and truly modest in spite of his own considerable erudition and intelligence. He was the type of person who effortlessly made others feel that he was genuinely pleased to see them. He was also a very good listener. Even when Paul was unquestionably the smartest person in a group (which he frequently must have been!) he had a knack of making the others feel that what they had to say was more important than his own views.
He was generous with compliments but genuinely self-effacing when praise was returned. Nevertheless, I believe that he fully understood how worthwhile his blog was and he was more than entitled to be quietly proud of the impact that it made on so many people, including myself.

I will miss him greatly.

I wish to express my deepest sympathy to the McConville family at this dreadful time. They will be in my thoughts and prayers in the days ahead.

May God rest you, Paul.