Dolden Wallace Folick LLP
Automatically compiled listing. Details may contain errors.95 lawyers · Metro Vancouver, Central Okanagan, Calgary Region and 3 more locations
One of 708 law firms listed in Vancouver, and one of 31 handling Insurance Law.
About Dolden Wallace Folick LLP
Dolden Wallace Folick does legal work for one industry: insurance. It was founded in 1994 to serve insurers only, and that hasn't changed. Its lawyers defend insureds on property, liability and specialty lines claims, give insurers in Canada and abroad advice on coverage and underwriting, and bring subrogated claims for them.
The range of work is wide. It stretches from cannabis, civil sexual abuse and COVID-19 claims to fiduciary, environmental and First Nations matters, with professional, product and municipal liability in between. When a new kind of risk shows up, the firm builds and keeps lawyers who can handle it.
Dolden's lawyers also write for the industry they serve. The firm's own textbooks cover cyber liability and cyber insurance in Canada, the annotated British Columbia Motor Vehicle Act, liquor liability, and sports and recreation liability. The Cyber Group keeps an after-hours support line, and clients can work with lawyers who are fluent in French, Mandarin or Cantonese.
Dolden opened first in Vancouver and today has offices in Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary, Toronto, Guelph and Halifax. Partner Robert (Bob) Dowhan came to Dolden from a large regional firm in Guelph, where Bob had been managing partner and the senior litigator in its insurance group.
History
Dolden began in 1994, when Eric Dolden, Steven Wallace and Lorne Folick left full-service firms to start a practice built around the insurance sector. It opened as four lawyers in downtown Vancouver, then added Kelowna, Toronto and Calgary. Eric Dolden and Lorne Folick are still partners, and Steven Wallace, a founding partner for 25 years, now serves as Associate Counsel.
In July 2020 the firm entered a strategic association with Kennedys, a global law firm. One benefit was that, through the Kennedys network, Dolden would be in a position to coordinate Canadian responses to international cyber-breach incidents. At that point Dolden had 135 people, 20 of them partners.
Practice areas
Insurance Law
Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Personal Injury
Construction Law
Administrative & Regulatory Law
Class Actions
Employment & Labour Law
Coverage opinions and policy wording
Dolden's coverage lawyers give insurers opinions they rely on to decide coverage on particular claims, set reserves and write policy wordings, and they've argued coverage cases at the Supreme Court of Canada and other appeal courts. The firm currently acts for at least eight specialty lines insurers and syndicates.
Construction defence and coverage
Dolden defends architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, construction managers, building inspectors and municipalities when a building's design, inspection or construction is called into question. Claims can come from any stage of a project, from design errors and tendering to liens, fee disputes and delay, and the firm has recently acted on construction coverage cases in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia.
Defending serious injury claims
Janis McAfee has a particular interest in defending brain and spinal cord injury claims, Amelia Staunton often defends local governments in serious injury cases and has handled catastrophic claims under maritime law, and Liz Pan takes on motor vehicle and other negligence claims with difficult questions of liability, causation and damages.
Class action defence
Several partners defend class actions. Lorne Folick is managing class actions over sports concussions and COVID-related claims, Chris Stribopoulos has worked on the defence of provincial and national class actions for more than 25 years, and Eric Dolden defended class actions arising from the XL Foods recall (Harrison v. XL Foods Inc., 2014 ABQB 720).
Employment practices liability
On the employment side, Brent Rentiers defends employers facing wrongful dismissal claims and alleged breaches of human rights and employment standards laws, while Brett Stephenson serves as coverage, monitoring and defence counsel on insurers' EPL programs.
Discipline and regulatory proceedings
Dolden lawyers act for professionals in front of their regulators. Brian Rhodes has represented professionals facing discipline by their governing bodies, and Lorne Folick has acted for naturopaths and other health professionals in disciplinary hearings. Brett Stephenson's regulatory work includes appearing as counsel before the FPSC, the MFDA and the License Appeal Tribunal.
Property loss, fraud and subrogation
Property litigation focuses on fire, flood and construction deficiency claims, where the firm acts for defendants, and on recovering insurers' losses from other parties, insured or not. Bob Dowhan has built a fast examination under oath process for questioning insureds on large, complicated claims.
Liquor and host liability
Dolden acts for several insurers that cover bars, pubs and restaurants on a program basis. Lorne Folick and Paul Dawson were among the co-authors of the 2010 textbook Liquor and Host Liability Law in Canada.
Cyber and privacy
Brett Stephenson works as breach coach and defence counsel for insureds in privacy and cyber matters, helping clients work through ransomware, data theft, business email compromise, fund diversion and similar security incidents.
Municipal and police liability
Lindsay Nilsson co-chairs the firm's national Municipal Defence Practice Group and spent 10 years defending local governments at the Municipal Insurance Association of British Columbia, as Legal Counsel and Director of Claims and Legal Services. In Ontario, Morgan Martin regularly defends municipalities, along with police services boards and individual officers sued over matters such as wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution.
Sports and recreation
Lorne Folick acts for recreation providers and sports organizations on injury and death claims, and wrote Sports and Recreation Liability in Canada (Canada Law Book, March 2017).
Good to know
Wheelchair accessible
By appointmentHow Dolden Wallace Folick LLP works
Dolden runs as a small firm on a national platform, with an open door policy in its offices. On suspect claims the firm's practice is to get involved from the start of the investigation, helping build an arson or fraud defence, and its subrogation work is built around a cost-effective approach to recovery and settlement aimed at maximizing what insured clients ultimately get back.
New lawyers learn by doing. Every student gets a principal and an associate mentor, and students attend chambers, discoveries, mediations and trials rather than spending their articles on research memos and document lists.
Reported cases
-
Family and Children's Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville v. Co-operators General Insurance Company, 2021 ONCA 159
The Court of Appeal allowed the insurer's appeal, ruling that Co-operators wasn't required to defend the class action or the third-party claim. Robert Dowhan, now a Dolden partner, appeared with Danielle Marks and Kenneth Gerry for the appellant, Co-operators General Insurance Company.
-
Hanson v. Totten Insurance Group Inc., 2018 ONCA 446
The appellants appealed a judgment dismissing their summary judgment motion in a mortgage enforcement action, and the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. Brett Stephenson, now a Dolden partner, acted with Mikel Pearce for the respondents Totten Insurance Group Inc. and Lloyd's Underwriters.
Decisions where the firm's lawyers appeared as counsel, from public court records. Past cases don't predict future results.
Milestones & recognition
- Canadian Lawyer magazine has consistently ranked Dolden among Canada's Top 10 Insurance Boutique law firms.
- Founding partners Eric Dolden and Lorne Folick have both been peer reviewed and recognized by Lexpert as Leading Practitioners in commercial insurance litigation.
- Brian Rhodes is a Fellow of the Construction Lawyers Society of America, a fellowship open by invitation only.
- Morgan Martin, who manages the Toronto office, served as a clerk to the Court of Arbitration for Sport during the 2005 Commonwealth Games (Melbourne) and the 2008 Summer Olympic Games (Beijing).
In the community
- In 2009 the firm sponsored Art in the Court, a Justice Education Society project run with Robson Square Provincial Court and the Vancouver School Board that brings young artists' work into the courthouse.
- Morgan Martin has given pro bono legal advice to Rugby Canada since 2009.
- Brian Rhodes taught at the UBC law school as an adjunct professor from 2013 to 2024, and Lorne Folick lectures there as a guest.
Affiliations & connections
- Canadian Defence Lawyers: Dan Cook and Tom Newnham are members of Canadian Defence Lawyers.
- The Advocates' Society: Dan Cook and Sam Sasso are members of The Advocates' Society.
Lawyers 95
Abdul Hassan
Associate
Albert Wallrap
Associate
Alexander Nowlan
Associate
Alexandria Myrie
Associate
Amelia Staunton
Partner
Amy Stewart
Associate
Andrea Trozzo
Associate
Andrew Breen
Partner
Insurance LawPersonal Injury
Andrez Belloso
Associate
Angela Barreto
Associate
Arfa Hussain
Associate
Brent Rentiers
Partner
Employment & Labour Law
Brett Stephenson
Partner
Class Actions
Brian Rhodes
Partner
Insurance LawConstruction Law
Catrina Foldessy
Associate
Charles Painter
Partner
Chris Stribopoulos
Partner
Christina Chini
Associate
Christina Lynn Parkes
Associate
Christine Galea
Partner
Clara Wiens
Associate
Clark Reynolds
Associate
Cody Mann
Associate
Corey Smith
Associate
This firm’s lawyers at a glance
- Called to the bar
- 1991–2022 · median 17 years in practice 24 of 95 lawyers
- Law schools
- Osgoode Hall Law School (3), University of Calgary (3), Dalhousie University (2), University of Alberta (2), University of British Columbia (2), University of Ottawa (2) and 7 more 21 of 95 lawyers
- Languages on the roster
- French
Who handles what
Offices 6
Show all 6 offices
The neighbourhood
Dolden's Guelph office sits in Suite 101 at 111 Farquhar Street, in the Granary Building. The building overlooks the Guelph GO Station, borders the city's main transit station and is a short walk from City Hall and downtown. The Guelph Chamber of Commerce also has its office at 111 Farquhar, in Suite 201. Drivers will find two-hour street parking nearby and a municipal lot at 51 Fountain Street East.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a toll-free number for Dolden's Guelph office on Farquhar Street?
- Dolden's Guelph office, in Suite 101 at 111 Farquhar Street, answers at (519) 286-2496 and toll free at 1.877.286.0112.
- How do I reach Dolden's Cyber Group after hours?
- Dolden's Cyber Group has an after-hours support line at 1 (888) 316-5742, toll free, and can also be reached at cybergroup@dolden.com.
- Does Dolden run a bilingual advice line for people with legal expense coverage?
- Dolden Wallace Folick provides legal defence services to insureds, including a bilingual 1-800 legal advice line, for everyday risks such as employment and disciplinary matters, contract disputes and debt recovery. Lorne Folick has been a key contact in setting up a national network of firm lawyers trained for claims under Legal Defence Coverage.
- Was Dolden counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada's Scalera decision on sexual abuse claims?
- Dolden acted as counsel in Non-Marine Underwriters, Lloyd's of London v. Scalera, 2000 SCC 24, the Supreme Court of Canada decision on how far the duty to defend extends in sexual abuse claims. The firm has significant experience giving coverage opinions on these claims, and Brett Stephenson co-chairs its National Abuse Group.
- Can I work with a Dolden lawyer in French, Mandarin or Cantonese?
- Dolden has lawyers who speak all three. Dan Cook, an associate in the Toronto office, is fluent in French, and associate Joyce Zhao is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.
- How do law students apply to article with Dolden, and who leads student hiring in the East?
- Dolden takes summer and articling applications through ViLaw, following Law Society guidelines, and off-cycle applications go to careers@dolden.com. Robert Dowhan is the Articling Student Committee Director for the East.
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Insurance LawThis listing was generated by AI from public sources in October 2026. It may contain errors, and we can’t guarantee it’s accurate or complete. Before you rely on anything here, verify it on the firm’s own website. Verify licence status in the Law Society of British Columbia directory ↗
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