Nigel is a Partner with Harper Grey and chair of our Insurance Law Group. Nigel’s practice includes legal services to multinational, national and regional insurers and brokers. A significant amount of his practice focuses on working on large subrogation matters.
Nigel’s defence practice focuses on large complex litigation matters ranging from class actions, to complex bodily injury claims, often including mass casualty events, to product liability cases. He has defended many high profile cases including professional athlete concussion cases and class actions for product liability and personal injury.
He is our in-house expert on subrogated property insurance claims. He has set up several professional liability programs for large organizations, and is a sought after speaker about risk management at conferences and meetings. Nigel is the editor of the Contemporary Canadian Insurance Law Casebook published in 2015.
Nigel has appeared before all levels of BC courts and in the Supreme Court of Canada. He applies a practical, informed and strategic approach to dispute resolution and to the leadership of our insurance group.
In his spare time, Nigel road bikes and plays recreational hockey.
Class Actions
- Nigel is currently defending an Ontario class action against a health professional who was inserting non-Health Canada approved stents in patients.
- He is also defending a retailer in a class action relating to contaminated pet food.
Insurance Law
- Nigel advises insurers, insureds, and self- insured clients on risk management issues including coverage and the defence of complex losses.
- Nigel also manages the accounts of those insurance clients who have a large volume of litigation work with varying levels of complexity and legal needs. In managing these accounts Nigel ensures that every Harper Grey lawyer who works on these files maintain an exceptionally high level of customer service combined quality legal work.
- Specific examples of work that Nigel has done include the following:
- Managing a large national insurers account such that Harper Grey was consistently ranked on audits as the highest performing firm in Western Canada.
- Defending action against an insurer in an action against them by an insured who was allged to have made misrepresentations in the application for insurance and renewal of that insurance. The insured had been sued in California for $250 million and sued the insurers who had denied defence and indemnity to the insured as a result of the misreprestentations.
- Writing a plain English excess automobile policy wording for a national insurer.
- Writing policy wordings for specialized programs such as excess automobile coverage, municipal liability coverage, and errors and omission programs.
- Defending complex bodily injury files including a professional atheletes claim against the Canadian Football league for his concussion history.
- Handling large volumes of subrogation work including geographic mass tort claims such as regional losses caused by electrical surges or water losses. An example includes an accident where a driver crashed his vehicle into a power pole, resulting in a power surge in a residential neighborhood. More than 200 property claims resulted. Nigel organized a subrogated action on behalf of numerous insurers. A significant settlement was obtained.
Professional Defence and Regulation
- Nigel is general counsel to several provincial organizations of professional home inspectors. He built and manages a risk management program for some of these organizations. Nigel defends many different types of professionals when they are sued.
- Nigel is general counsel for an association of medical professionals to whom he advises on many practice issues.
Subrogation
- Nigel is well known by insurers for his diligent and quick pursuit of their subrogated interests. He has successfully and efficiently obtained substantial recoveries for insurers in the areas of product liability, fire, flood, and structural defects.
- Nigel handled a subrogated matter stemming from an accident where a driver crashed his vehicle into a power pole, resulting in a power surge in a residential neighborhood. More than 200 property damage claims resulted, each worth between $5,000 – $10,000. Nigel organized a subrogated claim on behalf of numerous insurers, suing the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and the driver. The matter was handled much more efficiently than if each claim had been dealt with separately.
Education
- University of British Columbia, LL.B., 1995
- Queen’s University, B.A. (Hons.), 1992
Bar Admissions
- Yukon Territory, 2006
- British Columbia, 1996
Leadership
- Contemporary Canadian Insurance Law Casebook, Published by LexisNexis Canada, Editor (2015)
- Harper Grey Insurance Law Group, Chair
- Harper Grey Insurance Law Update Newsletter, Editor
- Meetings of professional associations such as the Canadian Association of Home Inspectors (CAHPI), the BC Association of Podiatrists and the Claims Managers Association of BC, Regular speaker
Membership
- Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch Subsections, Member:
- Insurance Law
- International Association of Defense Counsel, Past Member
- The Law Society of British Columbia, Member
