Jennifer is a partner with Harper Grey. She is the Co-Chair of the Insurance Group and a member of the Health Law Group. She is also the past chair of the Associates’ Committee and a busy mentor to students, paralegals and associates in the firm.
Jennifer has a wealth of experience in handling complex bodily injury claims. She has defended physicians in medical malpractice claims in all levels of court in BC. Her clients range from large shopping centres to small businesses and homeowners. She also defends products liability claims for designers, manufacturers and distributors. She acts for defendants in property and fire loss actions and has handled numerous sports and recreational claims. She has appeared as counsel on excess liability auto claims and for out of province insurers.
Jennifer has appeared at all levels of Court in British Columbia. She is a frequent speaker at both in-house and client seminars on a wide range of topics. She is also a dedicated mentor to paralegals, students and associates.
Jennifer received the prestigious Lexpert® Rising Stars – Leading Lawyers Under 40 award chosen from among hundreds of nominees across Canada in recognition of her leadership, professional achievements, business acumen, adaptability, teamwork and interpersonal skills. In 2023, she has been recognized as a Repeatedly Recommended Leading Practitioner in the area of Litigation-Commercial Insurance by the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and as a “Leading Lawyer” in the area of Insurance Law and Personal Injury Litigation by Best Lawyers in Canada.
An active volunteer, Jennifer has been a director for B.C. Chapter of the Women in Insurance Cancer Crusade, which raises funds for cancer research, support and education, for over 15 years. She was recently appointed as a director for Société Place Maillardville Society, a non-profit organization that services the Maillardville and greater Coquitlam area through offering early years, before and after school, youth drop-in and seniors programs.
Insurance Law
- Advises clients on a wide variety of risk management topics
- Successfully defending a landlord at trial and on appeal against allegations of vicarious liability for an employee’s sexual assault of a tenant
- Successfully defending property managers in one of the leading cases in BC dealing with the relationship between the Building Code and the Occupier’s Liability Act
- Successfully defending a high school student at trial against allegations that he negligently injured another student in class
- Successfully defending insurance brokers at trial in broker liability cases
- Assisting senior counsel in the leading case in BC considering the allocation of fault in a contractual setting
- Facilitating the resolution of matters at mediation
Health Law
- Provides advice to health care professionals regarding risk mitigation
- Successfully defending dentists and physicians at trial and on appeal against allegations of breach of standard of care, causation and lack of informed consent
Education
- University of Victoria, J.D., 2001
- Simon Fraser University, B.A., 1998
Bar Admission
- British Columbia, 2002
Leadership
- Harper Grey Insurance Law Group, Co-Chair
- Harper Grey Mentoring Program, Mentor
Membership
- Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch Subsections, Member:
- Civil Litigation
- Health Law
- Insurance Law
- Canadian Defence Lawyers, Member
- Defence Research Institute, Member
- Medical Legal Society of BC, Member
- ReferToHer, Member
- The Law Society of British Columbia, Member
Community Involvement
- Life In Law, Volunteer Adviser
- Société Place Maillardville Society, Volunteer Director
- WICC BC, Volunteer Director