Lawyers

Our lawyers have a broad range of legal experience, described in detail below:

Peter Swanson

Partner

Peter is a founding partner of the firm with over 30 years of professional legal experience. He practices primarily in… more »

Thomas S. Hawkins

Partner

Tom is a founding partner of the firm and practices in the areas of maritime law, insurance defence and commercial… more »

Catherine A. Hofmann

Partner

Catherine is a partner at Bernard LLP and acts for both private and public companies in a wide range of… more »

David S. Jarrett

Partner

David practices in the areas of maritime and transportation law, insurance defence, product liability and civil and commercial litigation.  He… more »

Jason Hicks

Partner

Jason is a senior solicitor who advises clients on a broad range of contract and business law matters, including the… more »

Tom F. Beasley

Associate Counsel

Tom’s practice includes representation of employers and employees in all aspects of the employment relationship with an emphasis on human… more »

Buck Hughes

Associate

Buck practices in the areas of civil and commercial litigation, insurance defence, environmental law and employment law. His experience includes… more »

J. Harry Ormiston

Associate

Harry obtained his Juris Doctor and LLM from Bond University in Australia.  Prior to law school he attended Simon Fraser… more »

Julie Gaydar

Associate

Julie joined Bernard LLP in 2024 as an associate in the business law group focussing on corporate and commercial, construction… more »

Jeffrey Wu

Associate

Jeffrey articled with Bernard LLP and joined the firm as an associate in July of 2020. He practices in the… more »

Robert B. Anderson

Associate

Robert practices in the areas of maritime and admiralty law with Bernard LLP’s litigation group. He has  represented institutional and… more »

Brogan G. Pastro

Associate

Brogan obtained his BA (Law with French Law) from New College at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.… more »

Eliza Lynn Brown

Associate

Eliza articled with Bernard LLP and joined the firm as an associate in September 2021. She practices in the areas… more »

Nicholas Wilson

Associate

Nicholas articled with Bernard LLP and joined the firm as an Associate in August 2022.  He practices primarily in the… more »

Alexandra King

Associate

Alexandra is an associate in Bernard’s Business Law group. She assists clients with a variety of corporate and commercial matters,… more »

Wana Wafa

Associate

Wana articled with Bernard LLP and joined the firm as an Associate in September 2023. She practices primarily as a… more »

Vera Syrma

Associate

Vera joined Bernard LLP as an Associate in October 2023 following her call to the bar.  Her practice is focused… more »

Lorna A. Pawluk, K.C.

(Retired December 31, 2022)

Lorna has been Associate Counsel with the firm for many years, and advised employers almost exclusively in the occupational health… more »

Peter G. Bernard, K.C.

(Retired June 15th, 2012)

Although Peter has chosen to retire from the practice of law, he will continue to sit as a Member of more »

Joan L. Rush

(Retired)

Joan Rush is a retired lawyer who worked with Bernard LLP for many years assisting our client insurance underwriters, P&I… more »

Elyn Underhill

(Retired)

Elyn has been practising law since 1985 after completing her Masters of Laws at the University of London (LSE) in… more »

  • Phone: (604) 661-0621
  • Email: