Nigel P. Kent, Partner, Clark Wilson LLP, Vancouver, BC. Mr. Kent heads up his firm’s Insurance Litigation practice group. He is also a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. With many years experience in insurance and business litigation matters, he has handled numerous complex and difficult cases at the trial and appellate levels in both Alberta and British Columbia. He is a successful negotiator and has brokered settlements of many complicated multi-party disputes. He has arbitrated and litigated a wide variety of insurance coverage and contribution claims. Mr. Kent is an elected member of the International Association of Defence Counsel (IADC) and was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in Canada (2008) in the field of Insurance law. He has written numerous publications, and is a regular presenter at seminars and conferences on commercial and insurance litigation.

Adam Briklyn, Management Liability Consultant, Toronto, ON. Mr. Briklyn has worked within the Management Liability insurance marketplace for over 20 years and has gained a wealth of experience in developing, growing and supervising Managing General Underwriters, as well as in direct insurance brokerage, primary and excess underwriting, insurance management and consulting. Mr. Briklyn has held a number of senior positions in the insurance industry, most recently as a Vice President of Marsh Canada Limited. In addition to successfully negotiating and placing Directors’ & Officers’, Employment Practices and Fiduciary Liability insurance, he provided guidance to Marsh clients on loss prevention and mitigation, claims, corporate governance and other associated risk management issues affecting directors, officers and trustees. Mr. Briklyn is an active member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society of America.

Jo Ann Carmichael, Q.C., Partner, Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP, Vancouver, BC. Ms. Carmichael’s practice is primarily litigation-based. She is a member of her firm’s Insurance Law and Family Law Practice. Ms. Carmichael commonly represents insurers with respect to life, accident and disability insurance matters. She also represents clients in family law matters. She is a former bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia.

Dominic T. Clarke, Partner, Blaney McMurtry LLP, Toronto, ON. Mr. Clarke practises principally in the area of insurance litigation encompassing both coverage and defence matters. He specializes in advising and representing insurers with respect to commercial general liability, directors and officers liability and commercial property policies. Mr. Clarke has significant experience in the defence of products liability and sexual abuse litigation. He has appeared as counsel in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Appeal. He is a frequent lecturer to professional bodies and has published numerous articles on insurance. He is also a contributing editor to the leading Canadian insurance text by Snowden and Lichty, Annotated Commercial General Liability.

Eric A. Dolden, Partner, Dolden Wallace Folick LLP, Vancouver, BC. Mr. Dolden is the firm’s senior partner having practiced in the areas of both insurance law and commercial litigation for nearly 30 years. The firm confines its practice to insurance law and over the past seven years both Mr. Dolden and other firm members have acted as national monitoring and coverage counsel on a wide variety of directors and officers, employment practice liability and fiduciary liability insurance programs in Canada for and on behalf of a variety of both domestic and foreign insurers doing business in Canada. Integral to the firm’s work is the development of new policy wordings for the various types of financial services products now on the market including D & O, Side A/DIC policies, EPL and fiduciary liability. The firm’s practice includes the handling and resolution of coverage disputes in differing Canadian provinces and the provision of “value added” services ancillary to various insurance programs including 1-800 “help lines” for loss prevention. Over the past ten years Mr. Dolden has spoken to insurance industry and risk management groups on the development of D & O, EPL and fiduciary liability in Canada and he is regularly consulted by differing insurers on product enhancements as these insurance products continue to develop in Canada.

Paul Henderson, Underwriter, Employment Practices Liability, Beazley Group plc (BEZ.L), London, UK. Mr. Henderson joined Beazley in 2003 and is a member of the Management Liability division. He is currently an Employment Practices Liability (EPL) underwriter and specialises in embedded EPL (Treaty Reinsurance), Mid-Market and Large Risks. He has over 7 years experience in the EPL/Management Liability market. Mr. Henderson holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B) and went on to study at the Inns of Court School of Law. While at the Inns of Court School of Law he trained as a Barrister and was also a member of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple and received the Wilfred Clothier Q.C. Benefactors award.

William E. Knutson, Q.C., Principal, Shapiro Hankinson & Knutson Law Corporation, Vancouver, BC. Mr. Knutson is a highly regarded civil litigator who has conducted many trials and appeals at all levels of British Columbia courts. He has also acted as counsel at administrative hearings, and participated in numerous mediations and arbitrations as either counsel or mediator/arbitrator. Mr. Knutson has authored articles for university law journals, continuing legal education publications and trade journals. He is a frequent lecturer and a member of several committees and associations including the Law Society of British Columbia, Canadian Bar Association, American Trial Lawyers Association and the Vancouver Bar Association. Mr. Knutson was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2004.

Mark G. Lichty, Partner, Blaney McMurtry LLP, Toronto, ON. Mr. Lichty’s practice is restricted to insurance and reinsurance matters, emphasizing coverage issues arising out of property, commercial liability, directors and officers, homeowners and financial services policies. He has extensive experience in drafting policies inclusive of CGL, Manuscript Liability, Umbrella, Media as well as Tech policies. He is called upon to review underwriting materials and manuals and is consulted by underwriters prior to policy placement and has given evidence respecting Canadian coverage law in the US. He is a regular lecturer and writer on insurance coverage topics and co-author of a leading Canadian insurance coverage text, Annotated Commercial General Liability Policy. Profiled in Best Lawyers of Canada Directory as one of Canada’s leading insurance coverage counsel he is also listed in Lexpert, The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, Martindale Hubbel and Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers. In 2005 Mr. Lichty was elected to Federation of Defence and Corporate Counsel.

Simon B. Margolis, Partner, Bull Housser & Tupper LLP, Vancouver, BC. Mr. Margolis represents clients in a wide variety of civil matters. He counsels clients on alternate dispute resolution methods and represents them before all levels of court. He also acts as counsel to numerous clients in the defence of insured claims involving product, property, professional, casualty, life and disability and motor vehicle liability. He advises on all aspects of the law relating to insurance, policy interpretation and assessment of claims. He is also the Practice Area Leader of the Commercial Litigation Group and is a current member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Currently, he is one of the senior lawyers acting on behalf of the Government of British Columbia in its action against the tobacco industry for recovery of tobacco related health care costs.

Gregory S. Miller, P.Eng, Partner, Lindsay Kenney LLP, Vancouver, BC. Mr. Miller’s area of practice is primarily insurance defence, with an emphasis on construction and engineering issues, and insurance coverage. His clients include general liability insurers, professional liability insurers and property insurers, as well as architects, engineers and contractors. Regularly called upon as a guest speaker on various topics of interest in his area of practice to professional industry groups, Mr. Miller also lectures at the University of British Columbia. During his engineering career he was employed in heavy construction and municipal government.

Malcolm N. Ruby, Partner, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, Toronto, ON. Mr. Ruby is the head of Gowlings’ national class action practice group. He focuses on class actions, securities litigation, and trans-border disputes. He has defended class proceedings - many of which are national or international in scope - relating to product liability, banking, consumer protection, and pensions. He has acted on behalf of the Ontario Securities Commission and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in a number of cases raising trans-border enforcement issues. He has also negotiated court-approved settlements in a number of national class actions and deals regularly with trans-border issues arising from parallel proceedings, including class actions, in Canada and the United States. Mr. Ruby is a regular speaker and presenter at a variety of conferences and seminars dealing with class actions and conflict of laws.

John R. Singleton, Q.C., Partner, Singleton Urquhart LLP, Vancouver, BC. Mr. Singleton is a member of the Law Societies of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Yukon, and holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of London, England (LSE). He has concentrated on the areas of insurance, construction, professional liability and environmental matters, on behalf of property owners, architects, engineers, contractors, regulatory agencies and insurers. He has acted as counsel in several precedent-setting cases involving insurers, architects, engineers and other participants in the construction industry and has been counsel on a variety of problems related to hazardous building materials and waste management. Mr. Singleton is also active as an arbitrator and mediator of commercial disputes in the areas mentioned above.

Gregory J. Tucker, Shareholder, Owen Bird Law Corporation, Vancouver, BC. Mr. Bird practises commercial litigation specializing in complex litigation, insurance and maritime matters. His insurance practice includes advising on coverage issues under property, liability and marine policies, reinsurance matters, subrogation and defence.

Neo J. Tuytel, Partner, Clark Wilson LLP, Vancouver, BC. Mr. Tuytel practises in the areas of insurance claims and coverage disputes, as well as environmental and other commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution. He is a member of his firm’s Insurance, Business Litigation and ADR practice groups and the Chair of the Environmental Law practice group. He has appeared before all levels of court as well as administrative decision-makers in British Columbia. He was winning counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada in the landmark overlapping coverage case: Family v. Lombard, as well as various cases in the BC Court of Appeal. Mr. Tuytel also acts as a mediator and is a prolific author and speaker.

Paul W. Walker, Q.C., Partner, Guild, Yule & Company LLP, Vancouver, BC. Mr. Walker practises insurance defence and commercial litigation as well as defending professional malpractice claims against dentists, physiotherapists and massage therapists. Mr. Walker has significant experience in the defence of complex multi-party litigation, products liability cases, and insurance coverage. He also provides coverage opinions for insurers. Mr. Walker regularly appears as counsel in the British Columbia Supreme Court and the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

Peter M. Willcock, Partner, Harper Grey LLP, Vancouver, BC. Mr. Willcock has practised at Harper Grey LLP since his call to the Bar in 1983. He focuses primarily on the defence of professionals, most specifically physicians and insurance professionals. Mr. Willcock has been counsel in numerous matters, including acting as counsel to the British Columbia physicians named as third parties to the Hepatitis C class action (one of the largest class actions yet heard by the BC courts), and as counsel for the successful Respondent in the leading case in BC considering the allocation of fault in a contractual setting.