ANDREW J. KIM

Andrew focuses on corporate, commercial, and real estate law.

He advises a wide range of clients including owner-operated businesses, entrepreneurs, professionals, financial institutions, and multinational corporations conducting business in British Columbia.

His corporate-commercial practice includes incorporations, asset and share transactions, franchising, and lending.

His real estate practice consists of residential and commercial transactions as well as commercial leasing.

As general counsel, he advises clients on business disputes, real estate disputes, and personal injury claims in collaboration with the firm’s litigation counsel. Andrew has appeared as counsel in the Provincial Court of British Columbia and the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Having grown up in Vancouver, Andrew is proud to maintain a deep-rooted connection to the community. He completed both his undergraduate and law degrees in British Columbia. He is regularly invited at seminars with local business organizations, not-for-profit societies, and financial institutions to speak on business and estate-planning matters.

Andrew is fluent in Korean. He is appointed as the legal advisor to the Consulate of the Republic of Korea in Vancouver. He has also served as chair of the Vancouver Korean-Canadian Scholarship Foundation.

In his free time, Andrew spends time with family, plays basketball, and travels.

CHRIS WATSON

  • Law Society of British Columbia
  • Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch – Civil Litigation Vancouver Executive Team Member

Chris grew up in BC and graduated from the UBC Faculty of Law in 2002 and was called to the Bar in 2003. He is the head of MacKenzie Fujisawa’s insurance group.

He acts for multiple insurers for which he advises on claims disputes, coverage disputes and subrogated proceedings. His other areas of practice include non-insurance civil and appellate counsel work and administrative law. He has appeared at all levels of court, namely the Provincial Court and Supreme Court of British Columbia, Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada.

He is a member of the Insurance, Civil Litigation and Administrative Law sections of the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch. He has served on several committees for the CBA. He is presently Vice-Chair of the Savary Island Land Trust, a non-profit charity that works to acquire conservation land, care for it, and share knowledge about nature on Savary Island, BC.

Chris served a term as managing partner of MacKenzie Fujisawa LLP from May 2016 until May of 2018.

NOTABLE DECISIONS:

Waterman v. IBM Canada Limited, 2013 SCC 70: Mr. Waterman was almost 66 years old and had worked for IBM for 42 years. IBM terminated his employment without cause and gave him two months’ of working notice. Mr. Waterman was entitled to receive pension benefits and began to do so immediately. However, he had no intention of retiring so he sued IBM for wrongful dismissal. The majority of the SCC decided the pension benefits should not be deducted from the 18 months’ pay in lieu of reasonable notice (20 months total less the two months of working notice) the trial court awarded to Mr. Waterman. Pension benefits are not intended to be an indemnity for wage loss due to unemployment and should not be used to subsidize an employee’s wrongful dismissal.

Lanfer v Eilers, 2021 BCCA 241: A German court found that the plaintiffs, German citizens, were entitled to certain land in BC pursuant to an “inheritance contract” and ordered the defendant, also a German citizen and the registered owner of the land, to transfer the land to the plaintiffs. In defiance of the German judgment, the defendant instead transferred the land to an innocent third party. The plaintiffs then commenced an action in BC to enforce the German judgment. The BC Court of Appeal unanimously reversed the BC trial court and held that the German judgment was valid and enforceable, and vested the land to the plaintiffs. Parties who obtain judgments relating to land in jurisdictions outside of BC may, if certain conditions are met, enforce those judgments in BC.

Imperial Metals Corporation v. Factory Mutual Insurance Company, 2022 BCSC 73: Imperial Metals suffered loss and damage when its tailings disposal facility (“TDF”) at the Mount Polley Mine collapsed, resulting in a shutdown of the mine.  Factory Mutual, which insured the property, promptly paid Imperial Metals $10 million, being the applicable sublimit of liability under the policy of insurance.  Imperial Metals then sued the engineers who designed the TDF and recovered a significant sum by way of settlement. Imperial Metals also sued Factory Mutual, claiming that it was liable for up to $250 million under the policy.  Factory Mutual counterclaimed against Imperial Metals for a declaration that it was entitled to a share of the engineers’ settlement funds under s. 36 of the British Columbia Insurance Act. The judge agreed with Factory Mutual that the $10 million sublimit applied, but held that it applied separately to property damage and business interruption losses.  The judge also agreed that Factory Mutual was entitled to share in the engineers’ settlement funds in accordance with the Insurance Act.  Paul Cote and Chris Watson of MacKenzie Fujisawa LLP were counsel for Factory Mutual in this proceeding.

PATRICK M. HOLMES

  • Law Society of British Columbia
  • Real Property, Wills and Estates and Business Law sections of the Canadian Bar Association (B.C. Branch)

A partner in MacKenzie Fujisawa, Pat Holmes has a general corporate and commercial law practice serving mainly local businesses. He also heads up our Wills and Estates Practice Group.

Pat provides legal counsel for commercial industrial real estate transactions, general real estate development, corporate acquisitions, reorganizations and mergers, and related matters.

He has been a frequent speaker at estate-planning seminars organized by community organizations, banks and credit unions.

He also advises on and develops estate and succession plans for clients that encompass both their business and personal objectives.

Pat is our representative partner for Business Counsel, Inc. – an association of law firms in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom that provides legal services to the business community.

GORDON J. KEHLER

  • Law Society of British Columbia
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Member and Past President (2000-2001), New Westminster Bar Association
  • Legal Advisor, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Society for British Columbia (Vice-President 2004-2007)
  • Legal Advisor, Ridge Meadows Youth & Justice Advocacy Association (Board Member 1994-2008, Vice President 1999-2008)
  • Chair, Interchange Foundation (2008-2012)
  • Contributing Author, FAS and the Criminal Justice System
  • Presenter, 2011 Medical Legal Hurdles from Rehab to Trial, Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia
  • Faculty Member and Presenter, Youth Criminal Justice 2007, Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia
  • Faculty Member and Presenter, Criminal Law 2008, Recent Developments and Practice Advice, Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia
  • Recipient of the 2011 Individual Contributor of the Year Award, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Society for British Columbia

 

The Managing Partner at MacKenzie Fujisawa, Gord Kehler is a trial lawyer specializing in personal injury and sexual assault claims (injured persons only), wills variation actions, commercial disputes, administrative tribunal hearings (including employer representation on WCB and human rights matters), wrongful dismissal claims and debt collection litigation.

Gord has appeared in all levels of court in British Columbia, including the Provincial Court, Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. He has also appeared in Federal Court, Tax Court and before WCB and human rights appeals tribunals.

Gord’s previous experience also includes an extensive background in criminal defence work, having acted on numerous cases at the Provincial Court and Supreme Court levels, and between 1992 and 2002 was, by appointment of the Attorney General of British Columbia, defence counsel for young persons in the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development, charged in the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows area.

PUBLICATIONS (Author)

  • Criminal Law 2010, Paper: Driving Offences and ICBC
  • Youth Criminal Justice 2007, Paper: Another Kick at the Can: Special Considerations for Bail under the Youth Criminal Justice Act
  • Personal Injury Law 2011, Paper: Post Accident Alcohol Abuse – Zawadzki v. Calimoso: A Case Study

PUBLICATIONS (Contributor)

  • Julianne Conry and Diane K. Fast, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the Criminal Justice System (Maple Ridge: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Resource Society, 2000)

QUANG DUONG

  • Law Society of British Columbia

Quang is a litigator with considerable experience in professional liability and administrative law matters, real estate, wills and estates and commercial litigation. Quang brings his broad experience and client-centred approach to help clients achieve optimal results. He is committed to providing clients with excellent legal services by combining strategic thinking, thorough legal analysis and a down-to-earth manner.

Quang received his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of British Columbia and his law degree from the University of Manitoba. He clerked at the Tax Court of Canada and was called to the British Columbia Bar in 2007.

Outside of work, Quang enjoys spending time with his family, reading, and sports.

IAN KNAPP

  • Law Society of British Columbia
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia

Ian practices civil litigation, having particular experience with property, environmental, and constitutional and regulatory disputes. He has litigated issues related to licencing, aboriginal title and rights, environmental contamination, property boundaries and usage, water rights, and professional liability and regulation.

Ian regularly prosecutes and defends civil proceedings, conducts administrative hearings and judicial review proceedings, and defends individuals and corporations charged with criminal and regulatory offences. He has appeared in all levels of court in British Columbia throughout the province, and in the Federal Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada, and has also represented clients as counsel within a variety of tribunal proceedings, including arbitrations, the B.C. Utilities Commission, and the Farm Industry Review Board.

Away from the office, Ian is happily married and spends as much time as he can with his wife and their two young sons. He is also an avid amateur chef.

PUBLICATIONS:

Co-Author: Gregory S. Pun, Margaret I. Hall & Ian M. Knapp, The Law of Nuisance in Canada, 2nd ed, (Toronto: Lexis Nexis, 2015)

Co-Author: Art Vertlieb, Q.C. and Ian Knapp, “Experts: Judges Need to Bring Real Change” (2015) 73:5 The Advocate, 665

Author: Take Five, May 2019 Issue, P. 22: Kirk v. Executive Flight Centre Fuel Services Ltd., 2019 BCCA 111 Counsel Comments”
http://onpointlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/BC-Take-Five-May-2019.pdf 

SEAN JONES

Sean practises Indigenous, environmental and regulatory law, with a focus on natural resource law. He has extensive experience on fisheries issues, federal and provincial environmental assessments and advocating for the rights of Indigenous communities.

Sean uses his knowledge of Indigenous, environmental and regulatory law to advise clients across all natural resource sectors. He regularly advises clients on project approvals and challenging approvals when necessary.

Sean acted as legal counsel in the first ever implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.  As a result, he was part of a team that won the Premier’s Award for promoting innovation and excellence.

He has advised clients on major projects and negotiated commercial agreements between industry and Indigenous communities. He has represented First Nations in Federal Court and has appeared at all levels of court in British Columbia.

He also has advised clients across all natural resource sectors including oil and gas, mining and forestry. He has a wealth of experience in the fisheries context, including aquaculture.

He also advises Indigenous communities on economic development and governance issues.

Prior to entering law, Sean was a communications professional who served in a variety of industry and government roles. He taught communications at Douglas College and BCIT in Vancouver.

Clicky