Pacific Medical Law

01/23/2026

No matter where you live in Canada, you're not alone.

The Birth Injury Lawyers Alliance brings together experienced lawyers from across the country to help families navigate complex birth injury claims. The founding members of BILA practice law in every Province and Territory in Canada, with the exception of Quebec.

🔹 BC & Yukon: Pacific Medical Law
🔹 Alberta: Weir Bowen LLP
🔹 Ontario: Gluckstein Lawyers
🔹 Manitoba, Nunavut, & Saskatchewan: Tapper Cuddy LLP
🔹 Atlantic Canada: McKiggan Hebert Lawyers
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11/06/2025

Congratulations to Mharwei - the recipient of the Janna Epp bursary for children living with cerebral palsy. Mharwei sustained hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy at birth and now has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy GMFCS V. Mharwei has unfortunately had a difficult year with hospitalizations. He is now back home with his family and his beloved support dog, enjoying listening to all his favourite music - from old songs to the newest hits.

As Mharwei is growing, it has become difficult to carry him up and down the stairs in his home. This bursary will help his grandmother purchase and install a stair lift to make their home more accessible, so that Mharwei can enjoy being in his home without having to face additional barriers.

Pacific Medical Law provides a bursary to a family caring for a child with cerebral palsy every year in honour of Janna Epp, a beautiful and determined little girl with cerebral palsy who faced challenges that few of us can imagine.

The application process is short and sweet, with no financial disclosure required and no strings attached - we trust families know best what their child needs. https://www.pacificmedicallaw.ca/jannaeppbursary/

10/09/2025

Meet Lindsay, a medical malpractice lawyer at Pacific Medical Law and proud member of the Birth Injury Lawyers Alliance (BILA). She represents infants who have suffered serious injuries at birth or in their first month of life.

With experience on both the plaintiff and defence sides of civil litigation, Lindsay brings a well-rounded perspective to her work. She has been recognized as “One to Watch” by Best Lawyers in Canada for her leadership in medical negligence law.

Lindsay also teaches medical negligence as an adjunct professor at UBC’s Allard School of Law and stays at the forefront of legal and medical developments through education, speaking, and professional service.

Born and raised in B.C., Lindsay is an avid athlete and field hockey coach who brings the same energy and focus to her practice as she does to the field.

We’re proud to have Lindsay as part of the BILA team.

09/21/2025

What Happens When a Baby Doesn’t Get Enough Oxygen at Birth?

Birth asphyxia is a leading cause of brain injury in newborns—and in many cases, it could have been prevented with proper care.

This blog post explains what causes oxygen deprivation during labour and delivery, how it’s treated, and what to do if medical negligence played a role in your child’s injury.

Read the full post on our website.

09/20/2025

The members of the Birth Injury Lawyers Alliance have written a Consumer Education Guide, the most comprehensive of its kind in Canada, to provide some peace of mind to parents of children who may have been injured due to preventable medical errors and to answer the most common questions we asked about birth injury claims.

Visit our website to claim yours today.

09/18/2025

Meet Paul McGivern, K.C., a founding member of the Birth Injury Lawyers Alliance (BILA) and one of Canada’s most respected medical malpractice lawyers. With nearly four decades of experience, Paul focuses exclusively on complex, catastrophic injury cases — particularly those involving infant birth trauma.

Paul brings a unique perspective to his work, having spent 17 years as defence counsel before dedicating his practice to advocating for injured children and their families. He has led precedent-setting cases across British Columbia and appeared before every level of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada.

Recognized consistently by Lexpert and Best Lawyers in Canada, Paul has been named Vancouver’s “Lawyer of the Year” in both medical negligence and personal injury categories. He is also a sought-after speaker, educator, and thought leader in the medical-legal community.

We’re proud to have Paul as part of the BILA team.

08/16/2025

No matter where you live in Canada, you're not alone.

The Birth Injury Lawyers Alliance brings together experienced lawyers from across the country to help families navigate complex birth injury claims. The founding members of BILA practice law in every Province and Territory in Canada, with the exception of Quebec.

🔹 BC & Yukon: Pacific Medical Law
🔹 Alberta: Weir Bowen LLP
🔹 Ontario: Gluckstein Lawyers
🔹 Manitoba, Nunavut, & Saskatchewan: Tapper Cuddy LLP
🔹 Atlantic Canada: McKiggan Hebert Lawyers

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From coast to coast, we’re here to support you.

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07/15/2025

What an extraordinary response we received this year to the annual Janna Epp Bursary 💚.

Janna Epp was a beautiful, determined young girl with cerebral palsy who faced challenges that few of us could imagine.

On October 11, 2012 Janna passed away.

It was unexpected and devastating.

With the support of her mother, we honour Janna's memory every year by providing a $5,000 bursary to a family caring for a child with cerebral palsy, to help provide for their child's support.

We have been doing this for over 10 years now - and will continue to do so.

We are excited to announce this year's recipient at the end of the month.

06/19/2025

Applications for the Janna Epp Bursary are being accepted until June 30.

This is a $5,000 bursary to provide support for a family caring for a child living with cerebral palsy in British Columbia.

The application is short and sweet - no financial disclosure required and no strings attached. We trust families know best what their child needs.

Apply here: https://www.pacificmedicallaw.ca/jannaeppbursary/

Parent Support Services Society of BC Cerebral Palsy Association of BC

03/15/2025

The General Litigation track at the Convention features a diversity of top topics for litigators. Take for example this session by Kate McInnes of Pacific Medical Law concerning long-term care for catastrophically injured plaintiffs.

In 2025, it is no longer acceptable for courts adjudicating personal injury matters to sentence disabled plaintiffs to a lifetime of institutionalization and its well-documented, associated risks, by failing to provide adequate damages to support in-home care. This presentation offers an avenue for reorienting the law away from the discriminatory trends in the jurisprudence that either explicitly or implicitly support institutionalization by clearly affirming a legal presumption in favour of damages awards reflecting the cost of in-home care.

See more topics at tlabc.org/Convention2025

03/14/2025

Medical negligence claims have a poor success rate in court. In the General Litigation track of the Convention, Susanne Raab of Pacific Medical Law will offer practical tips on how to overcome common obstacles and build a successful case.

View all track sessions here: tlabc.org/Convention2025

03/11/2025

This is the second article of our series discussing practical and evidentiary issues in medical malpractice. In this article, Andrea Donaldson reviews cases in which generalists have been held to higher standards than their formal training would suggest, and offers suggestions for counsel to illustrate the required standard of care to the court.

This is the second article of our series discussing practical and evidentiary issues in medical malpractice. Each article will examine recent medical malpractice case law and focus on practical and evidentiary issues, with the goal of providing some useful insight into the obstacles that occurred in...