Branch MacMaster LLP
Automatically compiled listing. Details may contain errors.25 lawyers · Established 1998 · Metro Vancouver, City of Toronto
About Branch MacMaster LLP
Branch MacMaster LLP is a litigation firm that concentrates on three things: class actions, health law and insurance. Its lawyers take matters to every level of court, the Supreme Court of Canada included, as well as to tribunals, and they practise right across the country. Many are licensed in more than one jurisdiction, among them British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
Jim MacMaster and Ward Branch opened the firm in August 1998. Clients get cost-effective service along with the responsiveness and flexibility a smaller firm can offer. In class actions, the firm doesn't stick to one side: its lawyers have worked for plaintiffs and defendants alike, in more than 100 cases.
Craig Jones, K.C., the author of Theory of Class Actions, brings a public law and class action practice and served as General Counsel to the Premier of British Columbia from 2022 to 2026. Several lawyers work in other languages too: Jun Xu is fluent in Mandarin, Mi Sun Cho in Korean, and Harjinder Lally in Punjabi and Hindi.
The head office is in Vancouver, at 777 Hornby Street, where the firm has been since it opened, and there's a second office at 175 Carlton Street in Toronto. Vancouver's hours run 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific, and Toronto's run 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern.
History
The two founders left what's now the national firm Faskens to start their own litigation practice, convinced that a small, specialized shop would serve clients better, with lower overhead, more room to adapt to new technology and fewer conflicts of interest. They liked to call it "big firm law in a small firm context." Class actions have been part of the work since the firm began, and Ward Branch and Jim MacMaster acted as counsel in four of the first seven class actions British Columbia's courts considered. One early file, started on October 28, 1998, challenged the constitutionality of the province's probate fees. The Supreme Court of British Columbia certified it in March 1999, but the action was discontinued after the government passed the Probate Fee Act.
Don Lebans arrived in October 1998, and in 2002 Chris Rhone came over from Faskens while Luciana Brasil joined from Davis & Company, making partner in 2013. Nevin Fishman came aboard as a partner in 2015. Christopher Rhone now leads the insurance practice, and Luciana Brasil, who helped Ward Branch build the class action group, has since retired.
In June 2017 Ward Branch, then the firm's managing partner, was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver, and Jim MacMaster retired that October. Class Actions in Canada, the textbook by Justice Ward Branch and Michael Rosenberg, counts Jacqueline M. Palef, who joined the Toronto office in November 2022, among its co-editors.
Practice areas
Class actions
Branch MacMaster's class action work covers plaintiffs, insurance companies, governments and health profession regulators, among other clients, on subjects ranging from contaminated products and price-fixing to Charter, copyright and privacy claims. Current files include an airlines class action, a CIBC mortgage prepayment penalty claim, horn noise from CN Rail in Parkland County and alleged RCMP misconduct at Fairy Creek.
Health professions regulation and discipline
The firm has practised health law since it opened in 1998, and its health group includes Donald Lebans and Nevin Fishman. It acts as counsel to professional governing bodies on legislation, regulations and bylaws, and it represents inquiry and discipline committees on issues such as scope of practice, advertising, continuing education, sexual misconduct and criminal offences.
Hospital privileges and health advisory work
Branch MacMaster represents GPs and specialists in privilege disputes, whether the matter sits with a hospital's own committees and board, goes to the Hospital Appeal Board, or reaches the province's Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. The firm also advises on consent, confidentiality, refusal or withdrawal of treatment and patient records, gives advice on assisted reproduction, and acts as defence counsel when physicians or chiropractors face professional negligence suits.
Insurance coverage and defence
Built around a relatively small group of Canadian insurers, the insurance practice is led by Christopher Rhone. It defends insureds in occupiers' liability, product liability, motor vehicle, professional negligence and construction defect suits, advises insurers on coverage and defends insurers sued on their own policies. During B.C.'s leaky condo crisis the firm was primary coverage counsel for a Canadian insurer, a role that included arguing for that insurer at the Supreme Court of Canada; working with Ward Branch, Christopher Rhone attended more than 100 mediations on those files.
Public and constitutional law
Craig Jones, K.C. has a litigation and consultation practice centred on public law and class actions, and Avichay Sharon has a particular interest in constitutional law and Charter litigation. Avichay Sharon's matters include a proposed class action, Li v. British Columbia, 2021 BCCA 256, that challenged the constitutionality of B.C.'s additional 15% tax on foreign buyers of homes in Greater Vancouver.
Intellectual property
Bryan McLean qualified as a registered trademark agent in 2012 and a registered patent agent in 2015, and has represented clients in intellectual property matters such as patent, trade-mark and copyright enforcement, domain name disputes and licensing.
Employment and human rights (Toronto)
From the Toronto office, Elizabeth Cunningham handles employment disputes and class actions, along with complex civil cases, for plaintiffs and defendants alike, with regular appearances before the Ontario and BC Human Rights Tribunals, both provinces' Labour Relations Boards and the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board.
Personal injury
Russell Bailey works with plaintiff personal injury clients, and Donald Lebans has acted as plaintiff counsel for a person left quadriplegic by a swimming pool accident and in a breast surgery malpractice case.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessible
By appointmentHow Branch MacMaster LLP works
Branch MacMaster commits to cost-effective service with the responsiveness of a smaller firm, and its size lets it keep a permanent, personal connection with each file. For insurers that want a different retainer, including bulk billing, task-based billing or a contingency arrangement, the firm can respond to any such request.
The firm also backs its insurance work with a satisfaction commitment: it won't ask a client to pay more for its services than the client believes they're worth.
Reported cases
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Douez v. Facebook, Inc., 2022 BCSC 914
Christopher Rhone, Avichay Sharon and Siobhan McConnell were among counsel for the plaintiff. The court found for Ms. Douez on the liability common issues, holding that class members hadn't expressly or impliedly consented to Facebook using their likenesses in Sponsored Stories.
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Huebner v. PR Seniors Housing Management Ltd., D.B.A. Retirement Concepts, 2020 BCSC 1290
Christopher Rhone and Avichay Sharon acted for the defendant PR Seniors Housing Management Ltd. in this action brought under the Class Proceedings Act. The court ruled that the defendants' responses to civil claim would be filed after the evidentiary motion was decided.
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Jiang v. Peoples Trust Company, 2022 BCCA 40
Bryan McLean and Avichay Sharon were among counsel for the respondent, Ying Jiang. The court dismissed the applicants' bids for permission to appeal the case management judge's orders requiring document disclosure.
Decisions where the firm's lawyers appeared as counsel, from public court records. Past cases don't predict future results.
Milestones & recognition
- The Globe and Mail and Statista named Branch MacMaster one of Canada's Best Law Firms for 2022 in Healthcare & Life Sciences.
- Lexpert recognition: Leader in Commercial Insurance and Class Actions.
- In August 2010, the Financial Post included Branch MacMaster in a ranking of Vancouver business law firms, naming its class action, defence work for insurers and health litigation among its strengths.
- Branch MacMaster lawyers appear in Best Lawyers in Canada: Nevin Fishman every year since 2013 in health care law, medical negligence and professional malpractice law, Stephen Libin in the 2026 and 2027 editions for class action litigation, and Russell Bailey in 2024 for personal injury litigation.
In the community
- Russell Bailey has volunteered with Access Justice Pro Bono for many years, and in Toronto Stephen Libin has given legal advice and trial representation to low-income Ontarians through Pro Bono Ontario.
- Christopher Rhone supports the BCSPCA and takes on animal cruelty matters before tribunals and the courts.
- The firm's class action lawyers teach the subject to law students and speak at legal conferences, on panels and on podcasts.
Affiliations & connections
- Veterans Legal Assistance Foundation: Branch MacMaster and McInnes Cooper, as counsel for the class in the Manuge SISIP Clawback settlement, funded this veterans' access-to-justice charity with a donation.
- Pro Bono Ontario: Of the Toronto partners, Ruby Egit volunteers with Pro Bono Ontario, and Stephen Libin has volunteered with it.
- Canadian Defence Lawyers: Stephen Libin is a member and has represented the organization as an intervenor at the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
- Lincoln Alexander School of Law: Ruby Egit is a Practitioner Mentor at the school, coaching second-year students in Civil Procedure.
Lawyers 25
Alexander Sculthorpe
Associate
Avichay Sharon
Partner
Bryan McLean
Partner
Christopher Rhone
Partner
Craig Jones, K.C.
Associate Counsel
Donald B. Lebans
Associate Counsel
Elizabeth Cunningham
Senior Associate
Emily Unrau
Partner
Haley Richardson
Associate
Harjinder Lally
Associate
Jacqueline M. Palef
Senior Litigation Associate
Jessie Meikle-Kähs
Associate Counsel
Juela Xhaferraj
Associate
Jun Xu
Associate
Mario Checchia
Partner
Mi Sun Cho
Associate
Nevin Fishman
Partner
Ruby Egit
Partner
Russell Bailey
Partner
Siobhan McConnell
Partner
Sophie Poinar
Associate
Stephen Libin
Partner
Supreet Singh
Associate
Thomas MacLachlan
Partner
This firm’s lawyers at a glance
- Languages on the roster
- English, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi
Offices 2
The neighbourhood
Branch MacMaster's Vancouver office is suite 1410 at 777 Hornby Street. Visitors who drive can use the pay parkade at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, 900 West Georgia Street, which is entered from Hornby Street, and there's street parking too. The hotel opened in May 1939, and the Châteauesque building, set in the city's Financial District on West Georgia, is counted among Canada's grand railway hotels.
In Toronto, partner Ruby Egit manages the office at 175 Carlton Street.
Frequently asked questions
- I was refused out-of-province medical coverage. Can Branch MacMaster help with a Medical Services Plan appeal?
- Branch MacMaster takes on medical coverage claims for care outside the province on behalf of individuals, and it handles Medical Services Plan appeals about out-of-province coverage.
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