Absolutely! Assisting Canadians in resolving serious injury claims south of the border has always been a significant component of what we do. Robert has many years of experience dealing with personal injury and medical error cases in British Columbia, from matters requiring negotiated settlements through to appellate practice. Wyatt has past experience working both for and against insurers on both sides of the border, and wrote a book about US- Canadian litigation strategy based on that experience. A past president of Victoria’s non-profit brain injury society, he has assisted clients with catastrophic injury litigation involving brain and orthopedic injuries.

Our firm is able to directly represent Canadian clients before federal and state courts in Washington. For matters arising in other jurisdictions (California, Oregon, Hawai’i, etc.) we have developed working relationships with lawyers who can assist with specific local tasks your matter could require, alongside our team. If we can’t add value to your matter, we’ll advise you of that in our initial meeting, and help you find “local counsel” as appropriate.

We’re sorry to hear you need an injury lawyer for a U.S. claim at all – but we’re glad you found our site. We’re here to help.

Yes we can! As lawyers licensed in British Columbia, we focus the majority of our practice on assisting U.S. nationals with matters arising in this province. However, under Canada’s National Lawyer Mobility rules, we are permitted to appear before the courts of ANY province or territory across Canada. If your matter in Canada poses unique local legal or procedural issues beyond our typical comfort zone, we can (and have) reached out for trusted local advice or assistance to add to your team.

Yes – subject to the practice rules of the place where the injury occurred, we can offer effective advice and counsel on matters for foreign visitors injured anywhere in North America. We focus our practice activities on our local jurisdictions (British Columbia and Washington) but have assisted foreign nationals on a wide range of matters in other states and provinces as well. Robert is a past president of the Washington State Bar’s International Practice Section, and was formerly called as a barrister and solicitor in the United Kingdom. Chiharu’s involvement with Pacific Juris gives us a special interest and ability to assist Japanese clients with their injury matters arising in the U.S. and Canada. Our cross-border practice focus and prior experience can often be valuable in assisting clients from anywhere around the globe.

Commercial cross-border litigation is also a large part of our practice at Pacific Juris, and a specific area of interest for us. Robert, Wyatt and Chiharu worked together to assist a public lender subdivision of the Government of Japan pursue and collect upon the assets of a developer who had reneged on government-backed loans and concealed assets in various offshore locations, including British Columbia. The Pacific Juris team obtained what we understand to be the largest pre-judgment asset freezing (Mareva) order issued by a Canadian court, and then proceeded to assist the Japanese client before the British Columbia courts in locating and collecting upon both real property and liquid assets situated in Vancouver and elsewhere in Canada.

You can read more about the Mareva order here.

Not every commercial case we accept involves asset tracing and nine-figure pre-judgment freezing orders – but having handled matters of such complexity, we’re confident our team has the proven ability to find creative, cost-effective solutions to your commercial litigation problems arising before the Canadian or U.S. courts.

Simply put, you get the entire team. We are a small firm of senior litigators with varied skills experiences, sharing a common interest in cross-border litigation problems. As such, we don’t “assign” file handling to Lawyer A or B. On Canadian-U.S. cases, Robert and Wyatt review and manage all client matters together, so you get the benefit of our collective knowledge and judgment. Chiharu joins that discussion for matters touching on Japanese or Asian legal interests. Tasks on your case may be allocated between us based on who is best suited for the job at hand. Even if one of us takes the lead on communicating with you about your case, we’re all offering ideas for moving your matter forward. We solve your legal problems through collaboration with you, and with each other within our firm.

It’s easier to tell you what we prefer doing, and what we don’t do.

Broadly speaking, we focus on civil matters, not criminal matters. We assist with disputes that can be fixed with money or court orders – not prison time.

We see ourselves as barristers, not solicitors. In Canadian terminology, that means we are more likely to be arguing in court than drafting contracts and wills (although all lawyers are trained as generalists and are permitted to wear both hats). In the United States, we’d be called litigators or trial lawyers.

See the What We Do page for more on the types of cases where our team has prior experience or a professional interest in (including serious personal injury, insurance and commercial disputes, class actions, and more).

If you have a legal problem that touches on more than one jurisdiction – whether in Canada, the United States or Asia – give us a call. We might not be the right lawyer for your case – but we can offer suggestions on others who might be a better fit.

Just because a lawyer CAN do something, it doesn’t mean they SHOULD. This principle guides our approach on deciding which cases we accept at our firm – and leads to us being more selective about the clients and cases we accept.

We enjoy the challenge of assisting on matters that have some foreign connection or cross-border component. If your case arises solely in one place, and all the parties involved are from one jurisdiction – we’re happy to chat, but you probably don’t need us.

If a case arises in our preferred areas of practice - see What We Do - we’re more likely to assist than if it does not.

Before accepting your case, we’ll want to ensure that your objectives in hiring a lawyer are ones we are well-suited for and that we are the most effective and cost-efficient option for your case. Some cases are simple, while others are more complex. If you DON’T need what we do, or someone else can do it better/quicker/cheaper, it’s best to figure that out upfront.

Lastly, hiring a lawyer is a big commitment. Litigation can be stressful, emotional and complicated – and it’s rarely over fast. If you need a lawyer, you may be working with your lawyer in high-stress circumstances for months or years. We have to trust each other to be effective. It helps if we like each other too. If we don’t have an immediate comfort level and rapport between us, that’s OK. We’ll help you find a better fit for your needs.

At Pacific Juris, we never represent wrongdoers or institutional defendants like insurers in any cases involving personal injuries, wrongful death or insurance coverage.