Biography

Nigel Trevethan chairs the insurance law group at Harper Grey. His practices includes legal services to multinational, national and regional insurers and brokers. A significant amount of his work focuses on working with self-insured professionals and organizations

Nigel is our in-house expert on subrogated property insurance claims. He has set up several professional liability programs for large organizations, and is often asked to speak about risk management at conferences and meetings.

Nigel has appeared before all levels of BC courts and in the Supreme Court of Canada. His applies a practical, informed and strategic approach to dispute resolution and to his leadership of our insurance group.

In his spare time, Nigel plays hockey and obsesses about where to find the best bacon in Vancouver (if you ever need to know, just ask him).

Education

• Queen's University, B.A. (Hons), 1992
• University of British Columbia, LL.B., 1995

 Bar Admissions

• Yukon Territory, 2006
• British Columbia, 1996

 Leadership

• Chair, Insurance Law Group, Harper Grey LLP
• Member, Canadian Bar Association - BC Branch, Administrative Law Subsection
• Speaker at meetings of professional associations such as the Canadian Association of Home Inspectors (CAHPI), the BC Association of Podiatrists and the Claims Managers Association of BC
• Editor, Harper Grey LLP Insurance Law Update

Awards & Recognition

• 2011  Recipient of the Michael Ludolph Memorial Award from the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors (CAHPI). The award is given to an individual service provider who has demonstrated dedication and contribution to the advancement and development of the home inspection profession in Canada.  Mr. Trevethan is a frequent presenter on the topic of risk management at CAHPI conferences and workshops.
  

Client Work

Insurance Law

• Nigel advises insurers, their insureds, and self-insured clients on legal issues including the defence of complex losses and coverage matters
• Assisting with the defence of an insurer in an action against them by an insured who was alleged to have made misrepresentations in the application for insurance and renewal of that insurance. The insured had been sued in California for $250 million and sued the insurer who had denied defence and indemnity to the insured as a result of the misrepresentations.
• Representing a large grocery store chain on all of its occupier's liability legal actions
• Extracting an insurance company from lengthy and expensive litigation relating to an allegedly faulty helicopter component. The final costs were less than what expert witnesses alone would have charged to testify at the trial.

Subrogation

• Nigel is well known by insurers for his diligent and quick pursuit of their subrogated interests. He has successfully and efficiently obtained substantial recoveries for insurers in the areas of product liability, fire, flood, and structural defects. 
• Handling a subrogated matter stemming from an accident where a driver crashed his vehicle into a power pole, resulting in a power surge in a residential neighborhood. More than 200 property damage claims resulted, each worth between $5,000 - $10,000. We organized a subrogated claim on behalf of numerous insurers, suing the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and the driver. The matter was handled much more efficiently than if each claim had been dealt with separately.

Professional Regulation

• Nigel is general counsel for a large organization of professional educators to which he provides insight on long term strategic planning as well as day to day legal advice
• General counsel to a large organization of professional home inspectors. Nigel built and manages a risk management program for the provincial program for this organization.
  
• Representing a psychiatrist before the Supreme Court of Canada in a matter involving allegations of ethical violation 

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