CARFRA LAWTON LLP LAWYERS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Articled Student, Gilbertson Davis Emerson LLP - 2005 to 2006
Amos Comeau is a civil litigation lawyer specializing in insurance, personal injury, property damage, professional liability, and construction claims.
Amos strives to quickly assess and resolve his clients' matters. Although focused on reaching reasonable early settlement, he is more than comfortable proceeding to court when required, frequently appearing before courts throughout British Columbia.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Counsel
- Summer Articled Student, Carfra Lawton - 2015
Amy began her career at Carfra Lawton in 2015 and has recently returned as Associate Counsel. Amy applies her sharp attention to detail to each file while keeping the big picture in mind to deliver timely and practical advice to her clients. Amy has significant mediation experience and has appeared as counsel before the Provincial and Supreme Courts of British Columbia as well as several administrative tribunals.
Anne Cameron's litigation practice includes considerable experience in defending and mediating civil actions. She has defended a variety of clients in the areas of health law, insurance law and administrative law for the past 28 years.
With her former nursing career and extensive experience in defending major loss injury claims, Anne provides clients with a most knowledgeable approach in the assessment of high risk claims and the development of expert evidence. Her medical background also allows her to communicate well and work effectively with medical experts in a large range of disciplines.
Annie Olson practices in the area of general insurance defence, with an emphasis on occupiers' liability claims and municipality liability.
Annie's background in debt collection brings strong investigative and interpersonal skills into her practice. She has cultivated a conflict-resilient mindset and takes a seasoned, practical approach to dispute resolution.
With the exception of brief sojourns in Montreal and Kamloops, Annie is a lifelong resident of Victoria. She was born and raised on the Saanich Peninsula and comes from a large family with roots along the West Coast.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Associate, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, Los Angeles, CA - 1999 to 2002
Aron Bookman's practice covers a diverse range of claims that often involve multiple parties facing potential liability and insurers seeking advice on challenging insurance coverage issues. A highly principled lawyer, Aron will fight to have unjust claims against his clients dismissed outright instead of negotiating any form of settlement.
A native Californian, Aron began his career in corporate civil litigation with Fulbright & Jaworski (now Norton Rose Fulbright), where he practiced in corporate civil litigation, appearing regularly before the Superior Court of the State of California and the United States District Court in Los Angeles.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner / Dean P.J. Lawton, K.C. Associate Counsel
- Summer Articled Student, Carfra Lawton LLP - 2007
Brian Hoffmann practices general insurance litigation. He has 15 years' experience handling property damage (including subrogation), personal injury, employment, and insurance fraud matters. Brian leads our Fire Loss group.
Known for his proactive approach to handling files, Brian achieves timely and fair results for his clients. Prior to joining Carfra Lawton LLP, Brian spent seven years working in the construction industry. His hands-on experience provides him with invaluable knowledge of the issues impacting property damage claims.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Counsel
- Partner / Dean P.J. Lawton, K.C. Associate Counsel
Backed by forty years' experience, Dean Lawton handles claims involving complex economic loss and catastrophic injury as well as those combining unusual facts and obscure or unclear legal issues. Never one to take any fact for granted, Dean conducts thorough independent investigations and applies his legal analysis to determine the best course of action for each case.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Counsel
- Carfra Lawton As an Associate Counsel
Donald McKay has over 35 years' experience as a trial lawyer practicing personal injury law, insurance defence litigation, general civil litigation, and criminal law. He has represented clients in all levels of court, including the British Columbia Supreme Court, the British Columbia Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada.
In 2001, Donald joined Carfra Lawton as an Associate Counsel and joined the Partnership in 2005, where his practice was focused exclusively on insurance defence work. Currently, he represents our clients as senior counsel primarily in the field of insurance defence litigation.
Giles Deshon practices in many areas of civil litigation including bodily injury, brain injury cases, insurance, defamation, estate litigation, and corporate litigation. Giles has a background in commercial and contractual litigation in Australia, England, and Canada. He also has extensive experience conducting jury and judge alone trials in British Columbia and Ontario.
Ilona was born and raised in Scotland. She studied law at the University of Edinburgh and graduated with her L.L.B. in 2012. After graduating, Ilona embarked upon a one-year working holiday to Canada with her now husband. The quickly fell in love with beautiful British Columbia and never left!
Ilona began her legal career at a respected Vancouver personal injury firm in 2014. She has almost a decade of personal injury litigation experience working on a variety of claims including motor vehicle accidents, slip and falls, assaults, and product liability. She has extensive case management and client service experience.
Ilona joined Carfra Lawton LLP in 2023 after deciding to relocate with her family to Vancouver Island. She is excited to continue to grow her career through exposure to new practice areas.
Ingrid Rost has practiced law for over 30 years exclusively as an insurance defence lawyer. She has experience in defending complex bodily injury claims, medical malpractice cases for BC hospitals, municipal liability, product liability, property claims, and environmental contamination claims. Ingrid's reputation as a professional and fair lawyer and her ability to communicate effectively are appreciated by her clients and respected by plaintiff's counsel.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner
- Managing Partner of Carfra Lawton LLP
Jeremy Martin is the managing partner of Carfra Lawton LLP and enjoys the challenge of overseeing and directing the firm's human resources and overall operations and development. With the firm for over 26 years, he handles a broad range of insurance defence matters.
With his years of experience, Jeremy knows how to find and utilize evidence to achieve an early resolution of a claim. Working closely with his clients, he tailors his recommended strategy to their specific needs while leveraging his relationships with and knowledge of opposing counsel and other insurance industry professionals.
Jessica has worked in the legal profession since 2013, working exclusively in the field of personal injury. She has extensive experience and knowledge in motor vehicle accidents regarding the defence perspective.
In 2013, Jessica started her career with the in-house legal department at ICBC in Vancouver where she worked as a legal assistant for 5 years before moving to Vancouver Island in 2018. Jessica continued to work as a legal assistant/paralegal at the ICBC Courtenay location up until starting with Carfra Lawton in April 2022.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Counsel
- Carfra Lawton LLP As Associate Counsel
Jill MacDonald recently joined Carfra Lawton LLP as associate counsel in July 2021 after practicing insurance defense at a small boutique firm for 16 years. Her practice covers a wide range of subrogation and defense work, including construction, property damage, strata claims, insurance coverage, and personal injury.
Jill's skills as an advocate and negotiator allow her to communicate effectively and reach a fair resolution of the claim when possible. Her thorough review and knowledge of each file enables efficient file resolution and ensures her clients are satisfied with the results.
Job Titles:
- Certified Paralegal
- Paralegal
Kailey is a certified paralegal with extensive experience in civil litigation and personal injury law. Her legal journey began in 2014 after completing the legal office assistant program at Camosun College. She first began her career at a respected Victoria personal injury firm, where she honed her skills in handling personal injury claims relating to motor vehicle accidents, slip and falls, assaults, product liability, and medical malpractice. Kailey later joined a multiple office BC firm practising personal injury and insurance coverage in 2021, where she provided enhanced services as a designated paralegal and furthered her experience in personal injury matters and contractual disputes, particularly focusing on income replacement insurance and extended health insurance.
Kailey's dedication and commitment to excellence led her to her current position at Carfra Lawton LLP in 2023, where she has been privileged to work across the firm's various practice areas, gaining invaluable experience from both the defence and plaintiff perspectives.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Associate With Carfra Lawton
Karen Orr practices civil litigation and administrative law, with an emphasis on occupiers' liability, health law, personal injury, employment law, and human rights law. She is diligent and thorough, with a practical and thoughtful approach to files that her clients appreciate.
Karen has been an associate with Carfra Lawton since 2016. She has appeared as counsel before the Provincial and Supreme Courts of British Columbia, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, various administrative tribunals, and at a Coroner's Inquest.
Karl Roemer is an experienced civil litigator specializing in insurance defence and practicing in the following areas: personal injury, construction, occupiers' liability, property loss, mental-health related matters, medical malpractice, strata matters, and insurance coverage.
Karl has acted as lead counsel in trials before the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Provincial Court of British Columbia, and Provincial Court of Saskatchewan. He has also appeared as counsel in matters before the Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan and Supreme Court of Canada.
Kathleen Thomas has worked as a paralegal in the field of civil litigation since 1976, with extensive experience in the area of personal injury law and motor vehicle accident claims. She plays a key role in the early review and assessment of files and helps to ensure that claims are progressed in a cost-effective manner.
Kathleen began her legal career with Matthew, Bryden & Dalton. In 1980, Kathleen joined MacMinn & Company, where she worked for 24 years with R. Allan W. Trann, whose practice focused on plaintiff and defendant personal injury and insurance law. In 2009, she joined Carfra Lawton LLP.
Kim was in the criminology program at Douglas College in Vancouver when she got sidetracked by regular pay cheques and travel, so she tossed aside the life of a poor student, travelled, became a paralegal, and never looked back. After many years of working on the plaintiff side, Kim crossed over and is quite happy she ended up doing defence work with Carfra Lawton.
"I'm a silversmith, selling my work in local galleries, and a reluctant gardener. I'm also crazy about my husband and beloved dog Max."
Job Titles:
- Partner
- English Instructor, Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, Ishikawa, Japan - 1988 to 1990
Kismet Bhandar is a seasoned litigator with 22 years of experience with personal injury, property damage and other claims. With her open, approachable and cooperative style, she fosters teamwork with her clients and works with them to reach a positive outcome.
Kismet was born and raised in Victoria, BC. But she did not fully understand her good fortune until she moved away and lived in other parts of Canada and overseas. She came home to go to law school in 1994 and has enjoyed working on Vancouver Island ever since.
Job Titles:
- Articled Student
- Summer Articled Student, Carfra Lawton LLP - 2022
Larissa has returned for her articles in 2023/2024 after having worked at Carfra Lawton as a summer articled student in 2022. Larissa works in general insurance defence litigation, including motor vehicle defence, personal injury, health law, medical malpractice, occupiers' liability, human rights law and insurance coverage. Larissa has appeared at the British Columbia Supreme Court.
Prior to her legal career, Larissa had a career as an insurance agent selling and assisting in underwriting insurance policies for commercial and private clients. She specialized in commercial garage, marine and auto insurance policies.
Job Titles:
- Articling Student for Peter Leask ), August 2004 - May 2005
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Articled Student