WILSON MCCORMACK LAW GROUP - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Co - Founder
• Barrister & Solicitor
• Founding Board Member

Cora D. Wilson, co-founder of Wilson McCormack Law Group, is a strata lawyer, educator, publisher & editor of the publication, Voice from the Strata-Sphere (since 1998) and co-author of the book "Strata Property Act, A Practical Guide to Bylaws". Ms. Wilson was called to the Bar in 1986 and has been involved in most aspects of strata law including wet building syndrome, general litigation, dispute resolution, governance, financing, collections, administrator appointments, construction and development. She has also arbitrated strata disputes. Ms. Wilson has been involved in numerous cases involving administrator appointments in the Supreme Court including the high profile case and precedent setting case of Avia West Resort Club v. Strata Plan LMS1863 (2004), 133 A.C.W.S. (3d) 5, 2004 BCCA 420 culminating at the BC Court of Appeal with leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada refused. In this case, Ms. Wilson represented the administrator. She has also represented owners applying for orders to appoint an administrator. Since 1999, Ms. Wilson successfully represented numerous strata corporations claiming damages and costs related to wet building syndrome against third parties, including the municipality, developer, subtrades, architects and others. Moreover, Ms. Wilson has successfully represented numerous strata corporations in the Supreme Court of British Columbia regarding repair obligations, expense allocation and significant unfairness. Some notable cases include The Owners, Strata Plan No. VIS 1086 v. Royal Oak Hills Development Ltd. et al, BSCS 10703, Victoria Registry and Peace at others v. The Owners, Strata Plan VIS2165, 2008 BSCS 461. Ms. Wilson is a regular guest speaker for the Condominium Home Owners Association (CHOA). She participates in seminars annually held in diverse locations across British Columbia, including Victoria, Prince George, Campbell River, Courtenay, Nanaimo and elsewhere. The seminar topics include bylaws, collections, insurance and other relevant topics. In addition, she has been a guest speaker for the Homeowner Protection Office, Strata-sphere Condominium Services Inc., the Appraisal Institute, the Real Estate Board and others. She was also a presenter on strata issues for The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia in 2006. From 1995 to 2002, Ms. Wilson lectured on strata issues at Malaspina University College (now Vancouver Island University). Ms. Wilson has completed all of the building envelope courses for architects and engineers and holds a certificate from the Architectural Institute of British Columbia (December, 1999). Ms. Wilson has also taken courses in the area of advanced construction design, stucco application, mould and other wet building syndrome related issues. Although she is not an architect or an engineer, this training assists with understanding construction issues from a legal perspective. In the community Ms. Wilson is a founding board member and the former Vice-President of the charitable organization Celebrity Lights Foundation. In 1996, this foundation spearheaded by Donna Dash used primarily volunteer help to produce and publish 20,000 cookbooks with net proceeds going to breast cancer research. Celebrity Lights sold or distributed over 19,000 books in a little over one year thus attaining its goal of raising significant funds for breast cancer research. A second book, published in 1998, included recipes from many celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth Taylor and Chef Diane Clement. Cora believes that team work, support and the promotion of high morale are extremely important factors to success. Ms. Wilson has been involved in many other volunteer fundraising events over the years for the S.P.C.A, B.C. Children's Hospital and others.

Job Titles:

• Co - Founder
• Barrister & Solicitor

Elaine T. McCormack, co-founder of Wilson McCormack Law Group, is an experienced barrister, solicitor, arbitrator and mediator. Her previous experience includes practicing as a general practitioner at a small law firm, being an entrepreneur running a boutique law firm, and as the head of the strata and dispute resolution departments at a large provincially based firm. Ms. McCormack was called to the Bar in 1993 and practices primarily within the strata community. As a lawyer, Ms. McCormack passionately works for strata corporations, management companies and individual owners to establish proper governance, resolve disputes and to collect amounts owing. As an arbitrator and mediator, Ms. McCormack has worked with parties outside of and within the strata community. Ms. McCormack has represented clients in Small Claims, the Supreme Court of British Columbia, at the BC Court of Appeal, and on human rights matters, privacy matters and in mediations and arbitrations. For instance, she obtained various orders for an owner of a commercial strata lot regarding parking and excess user charges resulting in the strata corporation being ordered to pay damages (B.P.Y.A. 1163 Holdings Ltd. v. The Owners, Strata Plan VR 2192, 2008 BCSC 695). She also obtained a court order for a group of owners so that unit entitlement was reduced for those strata lots without basements in Smith v. The Owners, Strata Plan LMS 1821 et al, 2007, BCSC 402 (S.C.). She successfully defended a strata corporation bylaw restricting the age of residents to 19 years of age and older in Drummond v. Strata Plan NW 2654 (2004), 34 B.C.L.R. (4th), 359 (S.C.). Ms. McCormack was co-counsel in a case that defined the transitional provisions between the Condominium Act and the Strata Property Act regarding the allocation of repair costs (see The Owners, Strata Plan LMS 1537 v. Alvarez (2003), 17 B.C.L.R. (4th) 63 (S.C.).). She has also successfully argued to uphold a strata corporation's rental bylaw and payment of fines in Strata Plan NW 375 v. Izowski (2002), BCSC 924 (S.C.). She has been a Chartered Arbitrator since 1998 and has adjudicated various disputes under the Strata Property Act, including matters concerning bylaw enforcement, use of property, rentals, rental pools, and allocation of costs between sections. Ms. McCormack has extensive mediation training and is a member of the Mediate BC Roster. She has experience in many different types of mediations, including construction, employment, strata, and disputes between owner/developers and strata corporations. Ms. McCormack believes it is important to educate the various stakeholders in the strata community. For owners, she is a regular speaker for the Condominium Home Owners Association (CHOA) and writes for the CHOA Journal and Strata-Sphere. She teaches seminars annually for CHOA. The seminar topics include bylaws, collections, and insurance. For strata managers and other professionals, Ms. McCormack has written for The Scrivener and is also a regular speaker for the Professional Association of Managing Agents (PAMA). She has taught the E&O Legal Update since 2014 in the Vancouver Lower Mainland, Victoria, Kelowna and at the PAMA Real Estate Conference in the Sun in Mexico. She also speaks frequently at Buildex for PAMA on current topics. Ms. McCormack has also been a featured speaker and educator for the British Columbia Arbitration and Mediation Institute and the Construction Sub-Section of the Canadian Bar Association. She has held an executive position on the British Columbia Arbitration and Mediation Institute Board of Directors, as well as taught the professional training course on legal procedure to arbitrators and she has also taught strata law to mediators. She currently serves on the British Columbia Law Institute Strata Property Law Project Committee. Education 2014 Q. Med designation - ADR Institute of Canada Inc.