Michael Quigley blew the scales off IQ tests and kung fu competitions and also served as a criminal lawyer.
Quigley was from Montreal and studied law at McGill while also practicing martial arts at the highest levels.
He had a kung fu gym in Old Montreal where he worked with West End Gang toughs Danny Neeson and Brian Forget, among others.
On one occasion Quigley found himself confronted by West End Gang hangaround Chuckie Mitchell.
Quigley, according to the still-cited yarn, managed to disarm Mitchell only to have Mitchell pull out a second gun, forcing Quigley to that weapon away too. Or something like that.
Quigley had old fashioned views about the secrecy of kung fu and opted against pursuing certain opportunities, as he believed doing so might violate the code of silence practiced within the martial art.
Quigley's area of law was outside of Quebec's Civil Code law, which led him to practice criminal law in Toronto. On at least one occasion he was given permission to work on a Quebec case, notably one involving a kidnapping involing the Griffin brothers of aforementioned West End Gang fame.
He died in December of a longstanding cancer.
Surprised to see this, he never worked on the Griffin case, and I know what happened with the gun incident and it wasnèt at all like that, he said he was a bit of an asshole and Chuck cut him slack at the end of it all... Steve Kelly broke it up. R.I.P. Mike, we shared lots of laughs when I was drinking, he was my favorite drinking partner...
ReplyDeleteCircling back, the only work near the griffin case was for a client who was allegedly kidnapped with another guy to find the whereabouts of bon Denis Poirrier...One of the kidnapped men went to police and reported the kidnapping, he became a a corroborative witness. Mike called me to meet him at the Duncan donuts on Sherbrooke St. W. to ask my advise as he represented the other alleged kidnaped man, as there was a possible subpoena to require the attendance of that person to give evidence.. I noticed police circling us slowly and presumed Mike was under surveillance to find his client... His client left the country the next day several months before a warrant was issued. That was his involvement...
ReplyDeleteHow did Brian Forget get in there...
ReplyDeleteMichael received am A+ from professor Julius Grey at McGill.
ReplyDelete