Lawrence Levinson co-founding partner of Burns & Levinson (1960), attended Harvard College, where he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1939. Upon graduation he started in the construction business in the South, but left to enter Harvard Law School. His studies were interrupted by service in the Army, where he served as a Combat Engineering Intelligence Officer with the 100th Infantry Division. For his heroism, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. Discharged as a major, he returned to Harvard Law School, graduating in 1947 cum laude and as a member of the Board of Student Advisors. That same year, he married Zoë Webber of Newton. They had two children.

Larry became a law clerk to Judge Francis J.W. Ford in the Federal District Court of Boston. After completing his clerkship, he joined the Boston law firm of Friedman, Atherton King & Turner, where he was made a partner in three years.

A well-known corporate and business lawyer, Larry served on the boards of a number of public companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and NASDAQ. He was a director of the Independent Bank Corp., Rockland Trust Company, Liberty Bank, and Sonesta International Hotels. Active in charitable institutions, he was on the board of the New England College of Optometry, which in 1998 awarded him a Doctorate of Humane Letters, and was also chairman of the board of trustees of New England Sinai Hospital and a trustee of Emerson College. He was much praised by his colleagues, not only for his legal acumen but also for his sensitivity towards clients, fellow lawyers, and opposing counsel.

Larry liked to think of himself as an old-fashioned family and business counselor, but one with modern tools provided by a large firm with expertise in all the major fields of law, such as taxation, estate planning, real estate, finance, domestic relations, litigation, insurance, and investment.