Vancouver boutique Allen McMillan is another of the entries into the crowded field of litigation shops in the city, with its reputation buoyed by a steady stream of referral work from peers who appreciate the firm’s space in the market and the no-nonsense approach of its two name partners, Greg Allen and Wes McMillan. “There’s a huge appetite for the types that Allen McMillan is attending to,” observes one contemporary. “They are doing a lot of scrappy commercial work for sure.” Another peer ventures, “The real estate market [in Vancouver] is going sideways, and that volatility is great for litigation – Allen McMillan have definitely benefited from this type of work. And they have a great ‘roll-up-your-sleeves’, ‘no bullshit’ kind of personalities that makes you want to refer to them.” Clients are equally appreciative; one states, “Greg is practical and results oriented. He is a good advocate and persuasively argues his case. Wes is also very knowledgeable and a strong advocate.” The firm, with a total headcount of approximately 15 lawyers and no shortage of trials and appeals, has demonstrated little interest in significant expansion, but it did welcome Kaitlyn Meyer to the partnership last year, a move that has been welcomed by the local legal community. “Kaitlyn has an excellent reputation in town, and she’s been very good to other young women litigators around here,” raves one peer. Another confirms, “We refer files to her, she has built a name for herself.” Allen McMillan also lured Bryan Hicks, an up-and-coming young star previously with Miller Thomson, to its bench last year as well. Allen and Meyer successfully defended an application by two of several defendants to have the claims against them dismissed or stayed on jurisdictional grounds in a case involving claims of misrepresentation, fraud and breach of contract arising from the plaintiffs’ investment in an energy drink company and a related farming business. The two defendants argued the claims surrounding the farming business were closely tied to Alberta and that a forum selection clause in an agreement between some of the parties favored the jurisdiction of the Alberta courts. The BC Supreme Court disagreed. McMillan meanwhile triumphed at trial on behalf of plaintiffs in a high-end real-estate dispute concerning pre-sale contracts for a development in Richmond, BC.
