"Workplace legal issues are usually stressful and often complicated. Guiding people through these difficult moments is a huge responsibility but is also very rewarding.
I help people with the wide variety of issues that arise in the modern workplace: disputes and conflicts during employment, terminations and severance packages, human rights, privacy and personal information, employment standards, labour relations, workers’ compensation, illness and disability, occupational health and safety, restrictive covenants and post-employment duties, off-duty conduct, workplace investigations, disciplinary actions, professional practice complaints and regulatory matters, and judicial reviews of administrative decisions relating to employment. I have appeared before most courts and employment tribunals in British Columbia.
I have extensive experience with WorkSafeBC issues, including claims, safety and discriminatory actions, and appeals before the Review Division and Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal. I often advise workers on illness and disability issues in the workplace, including injury and mental disorder claims under the Workers Compensation Act.
Since 2014, I have been selected by my peers to be listed in the annual editions of The Best Lawyers in Canada in the practice area of Labour and Employment Law, one of the only employee-side lawyers to be included. Since 2018, I have also been included in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory in the Employment (Employee) practice area. I often present and speak on employment topics at conferences and seminars, and have been interviewed about workplace legal issues in numerous publications and media. I have also served as Adjunct Faculty and an Instructor at the Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences, where I have taught courses on employment law and human rights. Following my call to the bar in 2003, I was previously a partner in a large national law firm before joining HHBG in 2012.
Volunteering in one’s community and living a full life outside of the law are important to me. I live in North Vancouver with my wife and two children, coach youth soccer and baseball teams, and previously served for six years on the Board of the North Shore Neighborhood House. I am also a regular volunteer with Access Pro Bono legal programs and helped establish the CoRe (Conflict Resolution) Clinic at UBC, which provides low-cost mediation services for people in the community who would otherwise not be able to afford them. I enjoy discovering new books and music, exploring the outdoors, and watching basketball. I wish that I was a better surfer.
