Bryan Baynham chairs the condo pre-sale litigation group and the aviation group at Harper Grey. He is also the past chair  of our commercial litigation group.

Bryan has a broad ranging civil litigation practice. He also provides advice and acts as counsel with respect to insurance coverage disputes and all issues relating to real estate, contract, tort and defamation litigation. 

Bryan was admitted to the Bar of British Columbia in 1973 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1997. 

He is consistently ranked among the top lawyers in Canada in the fields of aviation and commercial insurance litigation, defamation and media law, and in legal malpractice defense.

Representative Client Work

Aviation Law

• Representing airlines and operators in hull loss subrogated actions
• Representing the pilot, operator and underwriters in multiple actions for wrongful death, personal injury and property damage in a hot air balloon crash in the lower mainland 
• Representing an operator in a successful recovery action in British Columbia and instructing defence counsel in a Texas death claim arising out of a helicopter accident in British Columbia
• Representing a telephone company in a wrongful death claim and a hull recovery claim arising out of a helicopter colliding with a telephone line. 

Condo Litigation

• Representing individuals and groups of purchasers  disputing pre-sale contracts for the purchase of condominiums from real estate developers in British Columbia. 
• Mr. Bayham is a popular speaker at professional education conferences for realtors, lawyers, notaries and others involved in condominium disputes.

Commercial Litigation

• Representing the liquidator of the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada in ground breaking litigation to sell trust properties, including private schools, to satisfy outstanding claims for sexual abuse perpetrated by individual Christian Brothers at the Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland. The liquidator ultimately made a recovery of $19 million by way of settlement.
• Representing defendants in the litigation following the collapse of two large financial institutions, Eron Mortgage Corporation and the Legion Credit Union
• Representing Kuehne & Nagel International at the Supreme Court of Canada in a landmark decision which changed the law by allowing third parties to claim the benefit of an exclusion clause in a contract to which they were not a party. This case also explored the boundaries between the law of contract and the law of tort and is recognized as the seminal decision in the ongoing debate concerning vicarious liability
• Representing an employer before the BC Supreme Court and the BC Court of Appeal concerning vicarious liability for an independent contractor 

Securities Litigation

• Representing a defendant in an 80-day securities/conspiracy trial commenced by a brokerage firm
• Representing brokerage firms and private individuals in various actions for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud with respect to both on and off market securities transactions

General Insurance:

• Representing Canadian, American and international insurers in a wide range of actions including liability, damage, coverage, and subrogation claims

Life Insurance:

• Representing various life insurance companies in litigation involving life disability fraud and punitive damage claims
• Acting as counsel for the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association before the British Columbia Supreme Court and the British Columbia Court of Appeal in an action concerning the constitutional authority of the Province of British Columbia to regulate the telemarketing of credit insurance by banks
• Representing the life insurance industry before the British Columbia Court of Appeal concerning the exigibility of annuities and in particular segregated funds where the debtor/bankrupt has designated a spouse or a member of his immediate family as beneficiary of the policy

 

Professional Negligence:

• Representing professionals including lawyers, accountants, doctors, architects, engineers, real estate agents, appraisers and insurance agents with respect to claims for professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud

Directors and Officers Insurance:

• Representing individual directors in actions whereby either company shareholders or third parties seek recovery for breach of both statutory and common law duties arising out of an individual's position as a director or officer of a company
• Advising a large international company concerning the wording and coverage provided by various layers of offshore excess insurance designed to protect directors and officers generally, and in particular their exposure to punitive damages both in Canada and the United States
• Assisting an insurance intermediary in drafting policy wording to provide directors and officers coverage for a nation-wide program for sporting organizations

Defamation:

• Representing both plaintiffs and defendants in some of the leading defamation actions over the last twenty years in British Columbia
• Advising publishers and media outlets concerning defamatory and potentially defamatory statements both before and after publication

Professional & Civic Activities

• Chairman, Law Reform Commission of British Columbia, Special Committee on Defamation
• Lecturer, Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia
• Member, Organizing Committee for the Paisley Conference on the Law of Negligence, Paisley, Scotland, 1990
• Member, Joint Committee of the Canadian Bar Association and Canadian Medical Association
• Member, Canadian Bar Association Special Committee on the Reform of Parliament
• Member, Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch - Aviation Law subsection

Publications

• Not Out of the Woods Yet . . . the Future for Pre-Sale Purchasers in B.C.
• The Coastal Village Project, Squamish, BC
• The Collapsing Real Estate Deal: Legal Remedies for Purchasers
• Defamation? Says Who?
• "Crossing the Line: Courts apply Neil while The Law Society of B.C. considers an exception", Harper Grey LLP Law Bulletin
• "Defending the Honest Director", Harper Grey LLP Law Bulletin
• "Bad Faith and Good Faith Claims", Harper Grey Commercial Litigation Group Seminar

Background

Bryan was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He lived in Ottawa, Toronto and London Ontario before moving to Vancouver in the late 1970's.