Rose is a partner with Harper Grey and maintains a busy and diverse practice, focusing on both Workplace Law and Personal Injury.
With over 25 years of experience, Rose brings sound judgment and a well-rounded perspective to her broad practice. The guiding principle for Rose is finding the right legal solution for her clients and in doing so nothing is more important than being respectful, compassionate and responsive. She is the Chair of our Critical Injury Group and a prolific member of our Workplace Law Group.
Her general civil litigation practice has provided her with extensive experience in plaintiff’s personal injury matters, workplace law matters and general civil litigation. Her general civil litigation practice has exposed her to a broad spectrum of matters including defamation, misappropriation, contractual breaches and sales of businesses.
Rose’s introduction to workplace law was through her personal injury practice in which many of her personal injury clients experienced problems in their employment situations. As she became more involved in providing advice in this area she realized how important this work was and made a conscious effort to build that side of her practice. She now has extensive experience advising both employers and employees on employment related matters including wrongful dismissal, constructive dismissal and human rights. Her practice has included work place investigations and development of comprehensive work place policies including creation and implementation of bullying and harassment policies and procedures.
Rose has had the opportunity to put her trial expertise to work in a variety of commercial litigation matters including real estate disputes, shareholder and partnership disputes, contractual disputes and product liability litigation. Rose has enjoyed the challenge of finding solutions for clients in these complex matters and looks forward to putting her problem-solving skills to work for clients involved in commercial litigation disputes.
Rose’s experience in personal injury litigation has been broad and has included representing clients in motor vehicle accidents, occupiers’ liability cases and a significant portion of her practice is devoted to representing clients in sexual abuse cases, either as plaintiff or as defendants. Rose’s involvement in sexual abuse cases began with representation of survivors of Indian Residential Schools and has continued with representation of clients either in an institutional or non-institutional setting.
During her 25 years of practice she has been involved in insurance law and has represented clients in a broad variety of cases including social host liability, property damage, occupiers’ liability and professional liability.
Throughout her years of practice, Rose has been very involved in mediations as counsel. That experience showed her the pivotal role that a mediator can play in the success of a mediation and the experience of clients in the mediation process. Her practice has provided her with the opportunity to serve a broad variety of clients and her strength lies in her ability to relate to clients with diverse backgrounds. Rose also acts as an arbitrator and counsel in UMP proceedings She is a Roster member with Mediate BC and has an active and thriving mediation practice. She was an early adopter of virtual mediation and is very familiar with the technology and the process.
Details relating to her experience in all the above areas is outlined under the “Experience” tab above.
Rose has always enjoyed being a part of the larger legal community and has actively participated in board positions for many different organizations and associations including the Trial Lawyers of BC and the BC branch of the CBA. She is also an active volunteer with several non-legal, nonprofit organizations such as BC Lupus Society and Ovarian Cancer Canada.
An avid cycler, Rose is passionate about supporting women in sport and is involved in providing support for local sporting activities for her daughters, for herself and other women. This includes involvement as past chair of Cycling BC and the Hollyburn Hurricanes swim team, and her current Board of Directors role with Hollyburn Country Club.
Workplace Law
Rose acts for both employers and employees helping them find solutions to workplace issues. She has experience dealing with a variety of issues including initial job offers, terminations, wrongful dismissal, navigating changes to the terms or conditions of employment, identifying human rights and employment standards issues. She also has experience with workplace investigations of a range of issues including bullying and harassment and development of effective workplace policies and procedures.
Terminations & Lay Offs
Rose has more than 25 years of experience helping both employers and employees navigate the many issues that arise when terminations and layoffs occur. Her representation of both employers and employees allows her to provide each client with a depth of experience and understanding of the motivations driving each party in a termination situation. In every case she focuses on achieving the outcome sought by her client and focuses on doing all that she can to bring about that result.
Negotiating and Drafting Contracts
A properly worded contract provides the possibility of avoiding costly and time-consuming litigation. Rose puts her litigation experience to work for clients in negotiating contracts – identifying areas that are likely to be problematic, identifying solutions to those potential problems and using her negotiation skills to get agreement on key points.
Employment Standards
Rose has extensive knowledge and experience with the Employment Standards Act (the “Act”) and regularly advises both employees and employers on the rights and responsibilities created by the Act. Rose has significant experience dealing with the Tribunal and resolution of complaints, either through identification of appropriate remedies and negotiating a resolution or in appropriate cases proceeding to a hearing. The Act stipulates the minimum basic terms of employment that every employee in British Columbia is entitled to. Employers can unwittingly run afoul of the Act potentially resulting in very costly fines and penalties. In some situations, the remedies available through the Act provide the only or best remedy for an employee.
Human Rights
Rose has over 25 years representing both complainants and respondents in human rights cases. Rose recognizes that these cases often represent very unique and emotionally charged situations for both complainants and respondents and provides representation that is compassionate and understanding to the unique nature of these cases.
Personal Injury
Rose’s personal injury experience includes motor vehicle, bike and motorcycle accidents, slips & falls, sexual abuse claims including historical institutional claims and claims arising from attendance at Indian Residential Schools, medical malpractice, occupiers’ liability claims, and product liability claims.
She has extensive experience helping clients recover following an injury. Although her primary role is obtaining full financial recovery for the losses that a client has experienced following injury, she also assists with her client’s physical and emotional recovery by ensuring that they are receiving the care that they need and are accessing the experts that can help.
Mediation
Rose is a Mediator on the Civil Roster of MediateBC and brings to her mediation practice experience as counsel in a broad variety of legal matters, which in turn provides her with subject matter expertise to assist in the resolution of a variety of disputes.
Mediation is a process which provides the parties with the opportunity to achieve a confidential and cost-effective resolution of disputes. Mediation is an assisted negotiation and provides a more flexible process than traditional court processes. Rose takes a hands-on approach in assisting the parties to come to that resolution. If resolution is not possible, Rose ensures that the parties leave the mediation with a better understanding of what is at issue and what risks each side will face going forward.
As a mediator, Rose actively listens, helps the parties find common ground and shared interests and in doing so helps the parties come to a supportable and lasting agreement. As a mediator, Rose is a neutral third party and can utilize the analytical skills that she has developed through her many years of experience as a lawyer to help the parties identify, articulate and communicate their positions and interests. Rose works hard to put the parties at ease and to help them develop the level of trust and comfort that is necessary to achieve a resolution.
Rose is available to mediate a broad variety of cases including personal injury cases arising from car accidents, slip & falls, medical malpractice, sexual assault and other incidents of injury. Rose’s broad workplace law experience can be put to use in mediating workplace disputes including wrongful dismissal, constructive dismissal, harassment cases and human rights disputes. Her broad general practice experience provides subject matter expertise that can be utilized to resolve disputes in other areas including wills and estates and breach of contract. She has had the opportunity to be involved in mediations regarding wills and estates and has found that her practice experience lines up particularly well with this area.
Education
- Justice Institute of BC, Separate Meetings – Pre-mediation and Caucusing, 2018
- Justice Institute of BC, The Art of Reframing, 2018
- Continuing Legal Education of BC, Med-Arb Training for the DR Professional, 2018
- Continuing Legal Education of BC, Advanced Skills for Non-Family Mediators, 2017
- Justice Institute of BC, Foundations of Collaborative Conflict Resolution, 2017
- Continuing Legal Education of BC, Fundamentals of Mediation, 2016
- University of Saskatchewan, J.D., 1992
- University of Saskatchewan, B.A., 1989
Bar Admissions
- Appointed King’s Counsel, 2019
- British Columbia, 1993
Leadership
- Athletics 4 Kids, Past Board Member (2001 – 2005)
- BC Chapter of the Canadian Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, Member (2022 – current)
- British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre – Mediation and UMP Panels, Panelist
- Canadian Bar Association BC ADR – Vancouver Section, Secretary (2022 – current)
- Canadian Bar Association BC Advisory to Judicial Council Committee, Past Committee Member (2010 – 2020)
- Canadian Bar Association BC Auto Insurance Committee, Past Chair (2016 – 2018)
- Canadian Bar Association BC Auto Insurance Committee, Past Member (2014 – 2016)
- Canadian Bar Association BC Government Relations Committee, Past Committee Member (2010 – 2020)
- Canadian Bar Association BC Legislation & Law Reform Committee, Committee Past Member (2010 – 2020)
- Canadian Bar Association BC Retreat Planning Committee, Member (2017 – current)
- Canadian Bar Association BC Women Lawyers Forum (WLF), Past Vice Chair and Past Executive Member (2018 – 2018)
- Canadian Bar Association BC Women’s Lawyer’s Forum (WLF), Chair (2018 – current)
- Canadian Bar Association BC Women’s Lawyer’s Forum (WLF), Mentor (2005 – current)
- Canadian Bar Association BC Working Group – Broken Lives, Broken Dreams Report, Member
- Canadian Bar Association National Judicial Issues Subcommittee, Member
- Civil Resolutions Tribunal, Past Part Time Member (2016 – 2018)
- CIVJI, Editorial Board Member (2013 – current)
- Cycling BC, Past Chair (2016 – 2018)
- Elizabeth Fry Social Issues Committee, Member
- Employment Update Column for The Verdict, Author (2019 – current)
- Harper Grey Critical Injury Group, Chair (2021 – current)
- Harper Grey Culture Club, Member (2018 – current)
- Harper Grey Enhanced Mentorship Committee, Member (2018 – current)
- Harper Grey Innovation Committee, Member (2018 – current)
- Hollyburn Country Club, Past Executive Board Member (2018 – 2021)
- Hollyburn Hurricanes Swim Team, Past Chair (2013 – 2017)
- Life in Law – LiL Advisor Committee, Co-Chair (2022 – current)
- Lupus BC, Past Board Member (2012 – 2016)
- Lupus Canada, Past Board Member (1998 – 2000)
- Mediation Moment Column for The Verdict, Author (2019 – current)
- Ovarian Cancer Canada Love Her Gala Vancouver, Past Chair (2014)
- Trial Lawyers Association of BC, Past President (2007)
- Trial Lawyers Association of BC, Past Board Member (2003-2018)
- Trial Lawyers Association BC Women’s Retreat Planning Committee, Member (2005 – current)
Membership
- ADR Institute of British Columbia, Member
- American Association of Justice, Member
- Canadian Bar Association, Member
- Canadian Bar Association Alternate Dispute Resolution Section, Executive Member
- Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch Subsections, Member:
- Civil Litigation
- Aboriginal Law
- Employment Law
- Insurance Law
- Canadian Bar Association Government Relations Committee, Member
- Chartered Professionals in Human Resources, Member
- Law Society of British Columbia, Member
- Mediate BC, Roster Member
- Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, Member
Community Involvement
- Life In Law, Volunteer Advisor (2020 – current)
