Find Lawyers in British Columbia, Canada for Employee Benefits Law
Practice Area Overview
Pension and employee benefits law is a practice area for lawyers who counsel employers, boards of trustees, unions, and others on legal questions related to several different types of retirement and employee group benefit plans. The largest area of emphasis is on registered pension plans.
This area of law encompasses a wide spectrum of matters, including planning, drafting, and interpreting retirement plan documents, and assisting clients with ongoing administrative and compliance matters; as well as litigation and dispute management. Lawyers also work closely with plan sponsors and administrators on fiduciary duties, tax compliance issues, and various issues related to plan investments. All of this requires working in the human resources area, but also dealing regularly with corporate finance and investment professionals and with government agencies, including the Canada Revenue Agency and various federal and provincial pension regulators.
Some lawyers focus on the litigation and dispute resolution side of pension and employee benefits law, specifically dealing with statutory, common law, and fiduciary duty claims affecting pension and employee benefit plans. They may act for plan members, unions, plan sponsors, administrators, trustees, or service providers. Some claims are framed as class actions or representative proceedings.
Other pension and employee benefits lawyers focus on executive compensation matters including legal issues surrounding equity-based compensation, bonus arrangements, supplemental retirement and deferred compensation plans. Pension and employee benefits law practitioners are also often called upon to identify issues and propose solutions to pension and benefit problems in corporate reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures.
Ken practices exclusively in the firm’s pensions and employee benefits law practice group. He advises pension and benefit plan sponsors on a range of legal and regulatory issues affecting their plans. He advises on pension plan governance and compliance monitoring projects, regulatory applications and the handling of pension disputes. He works with managers in the drafting and maintenance of pension documents, including plan texts, trust declarations, statements of investment policies, ...
Murray is a pension lawyer who acts for boards of trustees and other sponsors of pension and benefit plans in the private and public sectors in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. While Murray is a solicitor, he is regularly involved in pension and benefit litigation. Murray is the head of Western Canada’s largest and most experienced Pensions and Benefits Law Group.
Lisa is a partner in the firm’s Pensions and Employee Benefits Group and Protection of Privacy and Freedom of Information Group. Pension and Employee Benefits Lisa’s pension and employee benefits practice has a special emphasis on multi-employer pension plans and health and welfare trusts, usually sponsored for specific industries. Lisa represents dozens of board of trustees and corporate plan sponsors in both the public and private sector and in a wide variety of industries. Lisa...
Craig Ferris, QC is a litigator and acts for clients in commercial and business disputes. His particular areas of specialization include shareholder remedies, trust, pension and fiduciary disputes, securities and transactional litigation, product liability, mining disputes and real estate litigation. Craig has appeared in all levels of court in British Columbia as well as the Supreme Court of Canada. He has also acted in private arbitrations and in administrative settings including before the...
Anthony (Tony) has practiced labour and workplace law since his call to the BC Bar in 1994. He became a partner in 1997 and remained with the same firm which ultimately became Glavin Gordon Clements and now Koskie Glavin Gordon. Best Lawyers in Canada recognizes Anthony for his expertise in Employee Benefits Law and Labour and Employment Law. Chambers and Partners Canada ranks both the firm and Anthony in its top echelon (Band 1) for employment and labour relations in BC. In addition, Lexpert...
Stephanie Gutierrez has an active labour and human rights law practice in Vancouver. She represents unionized and non-unionized employers in a wide range of matters and disputes. Companies value Stephanie’s practical, client-centric and strategic advice. Stephanie has significant expertise in labour relations, and regularly acts for employers before the Labour Relations Board, Human Rights Tribunal, and labour arbitrators in wrongful dismissal actions, collective agreement interpretatio...
Paul Heisler is counsel at the firm and practices in the areas of employment law, constitutional litigation, and commercial litigation. Paul has extensive experience representing clients in disputes relating to wrongful dismissal, privacy law, workers’ compensation, post-employment competition, human rights, public law, labour relations, shareholder rights, and commercial matters. Paul also regularly provides legal and strategic advice to both employers and senior employees in the publi...
Herb Isherwood is a partner in our employment and labour team. He has over 30 years of experience assisting public and private sector employers with a wide range of labour and employment issues. Mr. Isherwood maintains a busy practice advising employers on disability and absenteeism, termination and wrongful dismissal, union organizing campaigns, labour relations strategy and collective agreement negotiation, collective agreement interpretation, grievance arbitration, workers compensation, em...
Clayton Jones has a busy labour, employment and human rights practice in Fasken’s Vancouver office advising employers on all aspects of the employment relationship. Clayton provides practical advice intended to prevent and resolve workplace disputes in both union and non-union contexts. Clients also frequently rely on Clayton to assist with significant workplace changes including workforce reductions, closures, bankruptcies/insolvencies, and corporate transactions.
Megan advises boards of trustees and plan sponsors on a variety of legal matters involving pension plans, employee life and health trusts and other benefit plans. Her clients include both single employer plans and trusteed multi-employer plans across a wide range of industries. Megan prepares and amends plan texts and trust agreements, advises on the application of provincial and federal pension legislation and regulator policy, and drafts supporting plan documentation such as participation a...
Rose is a partner with Harper Grey and maintains a busy and diverse practice, focusing on both Workplace Law and Critical 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...
Geoff takes a direct, methodical and highly effective approach. He draws on his knowledge of a client’s business and workforce to offer straightforward, practical advice, and in order to create trust, is always pragmatic and realistic about what they can achieve. Geoff is highly productive, taking an organized, systematic and disciplined approach to preparation. He communicates clearly and drives hard to find solutions that are feasible and solid, and which clients can depend on. Geoff ...
A Partner in our Vancouver office, Paul has been helping employers across Western Canada resolve workplace law problems for over two decades. He has significant experience in the mining, transportation, education, hospitality, construction and financial sectors. Recognized as a leading practitioner by Best Lawyers and Lexpert, Paul provides strategic counsel to clients concerning employment litigation, occupational health and safety, shareholder disputes, workers’ compensation, human ri...
Meghan is a partner in Lawson Lundell’s Pension and Employee Benefits Group. She acts for boards of trustees and other sponsors of pension and benefit plans in the private and public sectors in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Meghan works with both single employer plans and trusteed multi-employer plans across a wide range of industries, providing advice in respect of the legal and regulatory issues that impact these plans. She advises on issues that arise in the day to day ...
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