Practice
John has been a partner at Paine Edmonds LLP since 1993 and is a senior member of the firm’s Insurance Litigation Group. He has practiced litigation exclusively for over 20 years in the areas of general insurance defence, occupiers' liability, and personal injury. He has represented individuals and corporations through mediation, commercial arbitration, and trial. John has been instrumental in establishing claims management and loss prevention initiatives for several major corporations, including Canada Safeway Limited.
John has extensive trial experience and has conducted more than 50 trials (judge alone and jury) as lead counsel in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal of British Columbia. He has acted for plaintiffs and defendants in trials dealing with motor vehicle accidents, slip and fall incidents, claims arising from dangerous premises, medical negligence, and nuisance. John's trials have also included actions arising from commercial disputes, construction claims, construction and enforceability of contracts and statutory provisions, and various actions in negligence. Issues in these cases have included wrongful death, nervous shock, causation, liability, fraud, and damages. While most of his trial work has been in the Lower Mainland, he has conducted trials throughout British Columbia.
John has achieved the BV rating (Very High Legal Ability and Ethical Standards) in the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating system.
Education
Called to the British Columbia Bar, 1985
University of Alberta – Bachelor of Laws, 1984
University of Toronto – Master of Arts (English), 1981
University of Alberta – Bachelor of Arts (Honours, English), 1978
Professional Activities
Member, Law Society of British Columbia
Member, Civil Litigation, Health Law, and Insurance subsections of the Canadian Bar Association
Member, Canadian Bar Association Work-Life Balance Committee
Member, Canadian Bar Association Practice Advisory Panels for Civil Litigation, Occupiers' Liability and Personal Injury
Member (non-voting), Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia
Member, Canadian Defence Lawyers
Appointed to the Advisory to the Judicial Council of British Columbia Committee
Personal Notes
John enjoys playing squash and tennis and is also an avid, if unskilled, golfer.
He is a volunteer lawyer at the Access Justice Civil Litigation Clinic, a pro bono legal service. He has also been a frequent guest lecturer judge for the Professional Legal Training Course program since 1987 as well as a moot court judge for the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law. John has also served as a voluntary legal advisor for the Choice School for Gifted Children.
