Practice Areas

Bernard LLP’s lawyers have a broad range of experience covering a variety of practice areas. Our key areas of practice are as follows:

Admiralty and Maritime

The Bernard LLP Admiralty and Maritime practice group is one of the largest and most experienced in Canada. Our marine lawyers have been involved in virtually every major maritime casualty on the West Coast of Canada over the past four decades. The firm represents a broad range of clients in both a litigation and transactional context. Clients are both domestic and international, and cover all aspects of marine transportation. They… read more »

Infrastructure Development and Construction

Major infrastructure projects are uniquely complex and difficult efforts.  Whether you are a top-level developer, a general contractor, a lower-tier subcontractor or consultant, we can help you to successfully navigate to completion with our extensive experience in this area.  Our lawyers have acted for developers, owners, construction companies, engineers, and consultants on a wide variety of projects with capital expenditures ranging from $40 million to more than $5 billion.  We… read more »

Insurance

Bernard LLP provides a diverse range of insurance legal services to policyholders, brokers and insurance companies on Canada’s west coast, in both a commercial and litigation context. Our commercial lawyers have extensive experience advising and representing brokers and insurance companies on regulatory and policy drafting issues, as well as transactions involving acquisitions, reorganizations and employment matters.  Bernard LLP’ regulatory work includes resolving licensing and compliance issues with federal and provincial… read more »

Litigation

The litigation lawyers at Bernard LLP have extensive trial and appellant experience appearing regularly at all levels of court in British Columbia, the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.  Additionally, our lawyers routinely appear before administrative tribunals and arbitration panels.  Our ability to problem solve and litigate skillfully, efficiently and effectively is a hallmark of our litigation practice. Our litigation lawyers handle a… read more »

Business Law

We can assist and advise you on a wide range of business law matters, whether you are a small local enterprise or a large multinational corporation.  We have an extensive client base active in many industries, with a particular focus in marine, general business, and infrastructure development and construction.


Marine Industry

If you do business in the marine industry, then chances are good that you will like what Bernard LLP… read more »

Environmental

The Bernard LLP Environmental Law practice group provides advice to local, national and international clients on environmental issues in Canada.  The regulatory framework of Federal and British Columbia environmental legislation is extensive and complex.  Our lawyers have experience which includes providing advice on issues arising from contaminated sites, pollution, and a broad range of regulatory matters.  Examples of work done by our lawyers include the following: Contaminated sites: Our lawyers… read more »

Employment Law

Our lawyers provide practical, timely and cost effective counsel on a wide range of employment matters including:

  • drafting and interpreting employment and consulting agreements;
  • drafting policies;
  • pro-active advice and ongoing assistance in managing the employment relationship including:
    • attendance management, workplace impairment, misconduct and investigations;
    • human rights obligations including the duty to accommodate;
    • worker’s compensation and occupational health and safety; and
    • providing education and seminars for employers, managers, and staff
read more »

Health Law

The lawyers in our Health Law practice group have extensive experience assisting health practitioners in British Columbia. Our lawyers deal with a wide range of health law related issues.  We have successfully investigated and defended claims on behalf of medical doctors, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, nurses, psychologists, and naturopaths in a professional negligence and/or professional misconduct context. Our lawyers have been actively involved in advising clients on registration, privileges, disciplinary matters,… read more »

Practice Group Members

Occupational Health and Safety

Our lawyers have extensive experience dealing with all legal issues relating to workplace health and safety, both from a regulatory and insurance perspective.  We have successfully defended employers in a broad range of regulatory matters including response to discriminatory action complaints, compliance orders and monetary penalties.  Our lawyers advise employers on employee discipline issues relating to safety and to human rights complaints arising from work-related disabilities.  We also have extensive… read more »

Practice Group Members

Personal Injury

Our personal injury lawyers are skilled at handling both the defence and prosecution of personal injury claims. Our firm has extensive experience defending personal injury claims arising out of motor vehicle and marine accidents. The claims we routinely handle range from relatively simple injuries to claims involving complex injuries such as traumatic brain and spinal injuries as well as wrongful death claims. Our lawyers have significant experience dealing with psychological… read more »