Michael G. Thomas
Partner
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Michael Thomas is a partner with Harper Grey LLP. Recently, he helped a family recover over $2 million dollars in compensation for a brain injury suffered by a husband who was a passenger in a car driven by his wife. In addition, he defended a physician in an obstetrical case in which a baby was born with a catastrophic brain injury. The infant was awarded over $3 million dollars and the legal issue of whether a fetus can bring an action in negligence against a physician and whether a fetus can bring a claim for failure to obtain informed consent were argued for the first time in British Columbia. He also defended a neurosurgeon from allegations of professional negligence in the treatment of a lesion in the patient's cervical cord which resulted in quadriplegia. Last year, he helped a young man recover over $4.2 million dollars in compensation for a brain injury suffered in a motor vehicle accident, and assisted a medical student in obtaining $150,000 for a whiplash injury suffered in a car accident. He also successfully petitioned the Supreme Court of British Columbia to set aside a $4 million dollar arbitration award. Michael is the author of the Canadian Insurance Law Blog. Representative Client WorkPrivate and Personal Injury Law Michael provides advice, represents and advances claims on behalf of individuals and corporations. He represents clients suffering from catastrophic brain, orthopaedic and psychological injuries. In addition, he has provided advice to clients about potential actions and violations arising from the Competition Act, defended wrongful dismissal claims, represented clients before the Human Rights Tribunal, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC and the College of Dental Surgeons of BC. He has also commenced actions against the RCMP, the Superintendant of Motor Vehicles, various municipalities and both the federal and provincial governments. Health Law Michael provides legal services to physicians practicing in BC. Although the primary focus of this portion of his practice involves defending civil actions, he has also appeared on behalf of physicians before the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC and the Human Rights Tribunal. Michael is a member of the firm's Compromised Infants Group. Insurance Law Michael's insurance practice primarily consists of representing insurance companies and their insureds in claims brought against them for personal injury, property loss, bad faith, releases and jurisdictional issues. He has defended an umber of claims involving professional or elite athletes, people suffering from catastrophic injuries, wrongful death suits and has defended clients involving claims where sexual abuse/misconduct, defamation, and malicious prosecution have been alleged. In addition, Michael has obtained substantial recoveries for insurers by pursuing subrogated claims on their behalf in the areas of product liability, flood, structural defects, motor vehicle accidents and air accidents. Past Cases Michael has been lead counsel before the British Columbia Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of British Columbia on both judge alone and jury trials, the Human Rights Tribunal, and the Provincial Court of British Columbia. Cases that Michael has been counsel on that have proceeded to formal adjudication include: Ediger v. Johnson; Forde v. Faridi [jury trial*]; Fazeli v. British Columbia; Arnet v. Vancouver Coastal Health; Watt v. Hicks; Taylor Ventures Ltd. v. Sterling; Millichamp v. Manhas; Bithell v. Surrey Memorial Hospital; ICBC v. Suska; Robertson v. Slater Vecchio; Huang v. Stogryn [jury trial]; Kemp v. Precious; Thibodeau v. Stanevicius et al; Alpha Controls Ltd. et al v. Ferguson; Shantz v. Smyth; Yeh v. Yuen and Moseley; McMurray v. Marshall and the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles, Blace v. Dundas and Mutat; Craig v. ICBC; Sam v. Wilson et al.; Thon and Thon v. MPIC and ICBC; Edwards v. Moran; Thon and Thon v. Podollan; VSH Management v. Burgess, Austin and Associates et al.; Yarrow v. Marsh [jury trial]; Luoma v. Henwood; Drage v. Pon; Winters v. deCouto; Drage v. Fitzpatrick and Page; Devlin v. College of Physicians & Surgeons; Craig v. ICBC; Dhami v. ICBC and Dhami v. Abengoza; Flisiak v. Bouaziz, Otto and Sproul; S v. C, D and R [Human Rights Tribunal hearing]; Bezjak v. Jang and Laser Rejuvinations Clinic; Bezjak v. Jang; Thon v. Podollan; Turko v. Western Union Insurance Company; Singh and Dhaliwal v. ICBC [jury trial]; Blackwater v. Plint; Azghar v. Western Union Insurance Company; and Singh v. Western Union Insurance Company. In addition, Michael has conducted numerous applications, pre-trial conferences, mediations, discoveries and depositions. Professional & Civic Activities
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BackgroundMichael grew up in White Rock, B.C. He has earned three degrees from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario: B.A. (Honours), M.A (Economics) and an LL.B. Before joining Harper Grey LLP, Michael was a commerce officer at the Competition Bureau of Canada. His primary duties were to enforce the civil provisions of the Competition Act. In addition, he received training from the RCMP in interview and interrogation techniques and is certified as an expert witness in the search and seizure of electronic information. During law school Michael represented inmates in parole and disciplinary hearings before various institutions, and assisted inmates with conviction and sentencing appeals. Michael has his pilot’s licence and is the owner of a Bellanca Viking. He swims regularly with a Masters swim club and also enjoys running and biking.
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