Andrea C. Akelaitis

Robyn combines an extensive civil litigation practice with relevant experience in employment law. She has advised and represented clients in a variety of sectors with complex corporate and commercial litigation issues, including professional regulatory matters, contractual disputes, shareholder disputes, negligence, breaches of trust and fiduciary duties, and civil fraud. Robyn’s employment law work has included acting on behalf of employers and employees with respect to wrongful dismis...

Mitchell joined Farris in July 1998 after spending the majority of the previous 28 years with the Vancouver office of McCarthy Tétrault LLP. He served as their Managing Partner from 1988 to 1990. Prior to joining that firm, he spent three years as a professor in the Faculty of Law at Western University in London, Ontario. Mitchell has an active practice, often giving advice in complex transactions, including to boards of directors and independent committees of boards of directors; corp...

Maureen Lundell has been a partner at Harper Grey since 1990, chairs our family law group and is a firm leader in alternate dispute resolution. Maureen has been a qualified Family Law Mediator since 1985. New qualifications for family law alternate dispute resolution accreditation came into effect on March 18, 2013 along with the new Family Law Act . In keeping with the new requirements, Maureen received Law Society accreditation to act as a Family Law Arbitrator, Parenting Coordinator and Fa...

Commercial litigation comprises the majority of John Shewfelt’s practice. Over the years he has also accumulated a range of other experience, including corporate and shareholder disputes, and cases involving defamation, nuisance, childhood sexual abuse, fraudulently concealed assets, real estate, and class actions. John also has experience with serious personal injury claims and with professional malpractice claims involving lawyers, doctors, investment advisors, and other professionals...

Alexander Demner is a partner practicing in the Vancouver office of Thorsteinssons LLP. Alexander’s practice covers several areas of taxation, including estate planning, pre-sale and divestiture structuring, owner-manager remuneration, taxpayer representation, and tax litigation. Alexander routinely advises on and implements reorganizations for individuals, trusts, and both private and public corporations in both the domestic and international context, and has overseen the successful re...

Frances Mahon is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defence and Immigration Law. Frances, who practices law in Vancouver, British Columbia, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Frances is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Gib van Ert practices civil, commercial and public law litigation in Ottawa and Vancouver. He has a broad range of counsel experience including trials, appeals, arbitrations, judicial reviews, motions and opinion work. Gib spent his first ten years in practice at a nationally-recognized litigation boutique in Vancouver. From August 2015 to August 2018, Gib served as Executive Legal Officer to two successive chief justices of Canada, the Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin, P.C. and the Rt. Hon. Richa...

Andrea is a lawyer in the Private Wealth Group at Farris LLP. She focuses her practice on assisting clients with sophisticated estate and trust planning and administration. She provides succession planning advice and works with clients to craft trust documents, wills and testamentary instruments, powers of attorney and representation agreements which respond to their specific needs. Andrea also provides services to executors and trustees. Andrea is a frequent speaker for a wide variety of gro...

Alison’s practice is focused on wealth management, estate planning, trusts, and personal and corporate tax planning. She works with high-net-worth individuals, families and owner-managers to develop customized strategies to manage and transfer wealth. Alison works on matters such as: Basic estate and incapacity planning (wills, powers of attorneys and health care representation agreements) Complex estate plans involving tax-planned wills, multiple wills, alter ego and joint partner trus...

Emily Chan practises in the areas of Indigenous, energy regulatory, and environmental law. As the co-chair of the Indigenous law practice, Emily provides strategic advice to clients ranging from industry and government agencies to Indigenous groups on a wide range of issues in relation to the development of energy, industrial, and infrastructure projects; joint ventures and commercial arrangements with Indigenous groups; negotiation of relationship building and impact and benefit agreements; ...