Michael Parrish is a partner in Fasken’s Vancouver office with a broad litigation, regulatory and advisory practice. His core areas of expertise include product liability, tort, professional liability, insurance, construction, aviation, maritime, transportation, agribusiness, class action, and cross-border litigation and related regulatory and commercial matters. Michael is recognized as one of the leading lawyers in his fields and regularly acts in matters across Canada.
Michael’s practice focusses on the following main areas:
- Litigation counsel in a broad range of product liability, tort, insurance, construction, professional liability, transportation and commercial disputes. Michael has particular expertise in corporate and professional negligence, personal injury, institutional sexual abuse, investigations, mass torts, class actions and multi-party and multi-action litigation. He also regularly acts in a broad range of administrative and regulatory matters involving federal and provincial regulators, boards and tribunals. Michael also acts for Canadian and foreign companies in a range of cross-border litigation matters including jurisdictional disputes, conflicts of laws, enforcement of foreign judgments and foreign evidence matters.
- Acting for manufacturers in a wide range of litigation, regulatory and commercial matters involving the automotive, aerospace, medical and health products, marine, construction, consumer products, industrial equipment, food and agribusiness, electronics and e-commerce industries. Michael is recognized as one of the leading product liability lawyers in Canada and has significant experience with catastrophic injury and potential “nuclear verdict” cases. He also regularly advises manufacturers and sellers on all aspects of the product life-cycle, including design risk analysis, regulatory compliance, sale of goods and supply chain contracts, labelling, manufacturing, sales and marketing, e-commerce, risk management, warranties, recalls, and consumer claims. He has deep knowledge of a wide variety of products and industries, the business and processes of manufacturing and the risks and issues faced by manufacturers and sellers in Canada. Michael is Canadian national litigation counsel for numerous international manufacturers and sellers.
- Acting for insurers, insureds, reinsurers, surety and warranty providers, brokers and agents in broad range of insurance matters including defence counsel in litigation, coverage counsel in coverage disputes, loss claims and adjustments, investigations and proceedings involving insurance regulators and advising companies on insurance matters relating to commercial transactions and enterprise risk management. Michael has a deep knowledge of the insurance industry including underwriting, claims, brokering and coverage in a broad range of insurance classes including liability, property, casualty, marine, aviation, E&O, D&O, surety, warranty, reinsurance and speciality insurance.
- Acting for maritime, motor transport, motor carriers and other transportation companies in a broad range of litigation, regulatory and commercial matters including maritime and motor transport related litigation, cargo disputes including ship and cargo arrest, police and coroner investigations, regulatory matters involving Transport Canada, the Transportation Safety Board and provincial transportation regulators, and commercial matters including transportation related agreements, mergers and acquisitions and purchase and leasing of vehicles, vessels and equipment.
- Acting for air operators, air carriers, airports, and aerospace manufacturers in a broad range of aviation related litigation, regulatory and commercial matters including air incident litigation, regulatory matters involving Transport Canada, the Canadian Transportation Safety Board and the Canadian Transportation Agency, and commercial matters including aviation related agreements, mergers and acquisitions, aircraft purchase and leasing, and aircraft charters.
Michael is a dynamic, strategic and practical lawyer with a strong bias for action. He has a proven record of resolving large, difficult, and complex cases. Michael is expert in project management and can be relied upon to manage large and complex litigation to resolution on time and on budget. He understands his clients, their businesses and their objectives. Michael is an extraordinarily hard worker committed to achieving his clients’ goals. He is personally accountable, and fiercely loyal, to his clients.
Michael has acted as lead or senior counsel in many of the largest and most complex product liability, construction and insurance cases in British Columbia including Azuma Foods (Canada) Ltd. v. Versacold Canada Corp.; Great Pacific Industries Inc. v. City of Chilliwack; Seaspan International Ltd. v. Inter-Mtn Testing Ltd.; Cameco Corporation v. Fraser Surrey Docks LP (“MCP Altona”); Premium Pellet Ltd., v. Fibreco Export Inc.; Camosun College v. Levelton Engineering; Hotel Grand Pacific v. Alliance Engineering Works Ltd.; CMC Engineering and Management Ltd. v. Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc.; Swiss Reinsurance v. Camarin Limited; Araya v. Nevsun Resources Ltd., Sidhu v. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Fibreco Export Inc. v. Marsh Canada Limited. Many of these cases involved novel and ground-breaking legal and procedural issues and generated leading court decisions.
Michael’s expertise has been repeatedly recognized by Chambers Canada, LEXPERT, Best Lawyers and Benchmark Canada. He frequently speaks, writes and teaches on topics related to product liability, torts, insurance, risk management, litigation practice, evidence and procedure.
