Guild Yule occupies, and some would argue dominates, an insurance-focused space in the Vancouver community. “Guild Yule has the insurance industry on lockdown in this market,” confirms a peer. The firm has also grown in its geographic footprint; a planned office in Kelowna, in British Columbia’s inland, has become a reality and has seen a steady build-out, with Shauna Gersbach
and Shaun Frost helming this expansion. “The Kelowna build-out has been going well from what I can tell,” voices a peer. “Shauna actually just finished a trial!” Guild Yule practitioners have been active in a wide spectrum of areas, spanning more novel and timely claims related to COVID to more traditional property loss claims. “We do a lot of the same work they do, but I have to confess, I feel like Guild Yule has a leg up on us in the subject-matter expertise department,” confides one BC contemporary. “You can just tell that they live and breathe this work.” Clients are equally appreciative; one testifies, “They acted as defense counsel on a number of litigation files involving construction disputes and personal injury matters. They are extremely smart, strategic, communicative, thorough and funny.”
In Vancouver, Neil MacLean attends to a varied insurance and product liability practice. MacLean is “a trusted advisor to several carriers” as well as a litigator and has recently been called in to give opinions on claims related to COVID on such issues as trip-cancellation coverage. Mark Skorah, one of the firm’s more seasoned partners, remains active with a diverse basket of work ranging from product liability, personal injury, errors-and-omissions work, directors’-and-officers’ liability insurance and administrative law. Skorah represented Westland Insurance Group in an action brought by an injured plaintiff on the basis that the insurance broker client allegedly failed to provide adequate advice about underinsured motorist protection coverage. The action was dismissed at trial but the judgment is under appeal.
Mark Gyton is actively pursuing maritime law, as well as subrogation coverage work and related product liability matters. Gyton is also working with
Jordan Bank as counsel for Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, who leased a unit for the operation of an overdose-prevention site that was opened pursuant to a Ministerial Order in response to the public health emergency caused by contaminated street drugs. The plaintiffs, residents of a defined neighborhood around the site, brought a nuisance claim against multiple parties, including the client. Bank is addressed by a client as an “extremely thoughtful, smart, thorough lawyer who thinks strategically through legal arguments and presents convincingly in court.” Bank is also working with
David Bell on a proposed class action against various “designated agencies”, who are charged with the responsibility of carrying out certain duties under the BC Adult Guardianship Act, including the emergency powers allowing these agencies to provide support and assistance to vulnerable individuals who apparently are being abused or who are self-neglected, in circumstances where they are apparently incapable of giving or refusing consent. The plaintiff alleges that, in carrying out those emergency powers for the last 20+ years, the various designated agencies have been breaching Charter rights and unlawfully detaining vulnerable individuals. A client declares, “David Bell responds quickly and provides practical advice in a timely manner.” Peers notes, “David Bell, along with Stephanie Hamilton, do an enormous amount of that professional liability work in the health industry,” confirms a peer. “They defend hospitals and nurses. Dave Bell also does a lot of human rights [work.]”
