Jennifer’s personal drive and commitment to clients’ interests enable her to achieve the best resolution in a timely and efficient manner. Jennifer works for a wide variety of clients and tailors her approach to the specific needs of each situation.
Jennifer’s ultimate goal is to always achieve the best possible result for clients; whether through negotiations, formal dispute resolution, or litigation. Jennifer works hard to focus on cost-efficient results for her clients while protecting their interests. In the employment context, Jennifer provides strategic advice to clients to prevent and resolve employment disputes and provides effective advocacy and representation for clients if a complaint or lawsuit is made.
Jennifer has appeared at the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal as well as in front of various tribunals. She utilizes her litigation skills in a wide variety of ways to advocate for clients and achieve a favourable result both inside and outside of the courtroom. Jennifer has experience working with clients in a wide range of practice areas and works hard and takes pride in developing her expertise. She uses this experience to remain adaptable and find the best resolution for each individual client’s needs.
Outside of work Jennifer spends time with her family paddleboarding, hiking, and snowshoeing in many of British Columbia’s beautiful parks. Jennifer is also involved in local sports and enjoys coaching youth baseball.
Harleen has a broad litigation practice at Owen Bird in areas including commercial litigation, insurance defence, tort claims, employment matters, construction disputes, and defamation law. She has assisted on matters before various courts across Canada.
Harleen obtained her J.D. and M.B.A. at the University of Victoria, and her B.Com (Hons.) from the University of British Columbia. Her business background complements her practice of law and allows her to better assist her clients through a legal, business, and strategic lens.
Harleen is a director of the South Asian Bar Association of British Columbia and co‑chairs its Membership and Outreach Committee. She is also an active volunteer with Access Pro Bono.
Outside of work, Harleen enjoys traveling, cooking and baking with new plant-based recipes, and spending time outdoors.
Jean regularly advises clients on corporate, commercial, real estate and estate planning.
She advises businesses of different sizes in various stages on a wide range of issues to safeguard their execution of business plans, such as merges and acquisitions, reorganization, financing, leasing and franchising.
She also works closely with business owners in business succession and estate planning to ensure the continued growth of wealth among generations.
With her personal knowledge and experience in Chinese law, she is in a unique position to help clients with business or disputes involving the laws of both jurisdictions. Her clients benefit from her unique background and her practical approach to solving legal problems.
Jean has been actively involved in the Chinese community in Vancouver, lecturing in S.U.C.C.E.S.S. and several other non-profit organizations. She has also acted as a legal commentator in local media.
Jean is fluent in both English and Mandarin.
Nikta Shirazian is a civil litigator with extensive experience handling construction defect, contractual dispute, product liability, professional liability, and administrative law matters. She also acts on complex insurance coverage matters for insurers, which includes routinely providing opinions on coverage under CGL, Course of Construction, and Wrap-Up policies. In addition to advisory work, Nikta litigates coverage disputes on behalf of insurers, including those involving policy interpretation, exclusions, and equitable contribution. Nikta has been recognized since 2022 by Best Lawyers in Canada: Ones to Watch for her work in insurance law. Her practice further includes class action work, both on the defence and plaintiff sides.
Nikta also has significant experience in commercial litigation, including disputes involving shareholders, partnership breakdowns, and corporate governance issues. She regularly advises and represents clients in matters involving oppression remedies, breaches of fiduciary duty, and other complex business conflicts.
Nikta also has a keen interest in the law of privacy, particularly in relation to privacy torts and legislation pertaining to safe handling and non-disclosure of information. She has presented numerous times on these topics and co-authored an article with Dr. Chris Hunt titled “Canada’s Statutory Privacy Torts in Commonwealth Perspective” which was published in the Oxford University Comparative Law Forum. This article was cited by the British Columbia Supreme Court in Douez v Facebook Inc. 2022 BCSC 914 (a breach of privacy class action), on the issue of which party ought to bear the onus of proving consent in a breach of privacy claim.
John Kim represents clients in complex commercial, insurance, construction, design professional, subrogated and product liability disputes. John has developed specialized expertise in fire related claims and litigation. He has represented clients in landmark cases in this area and teaches fire and arson investigators at accredited courses in BC.
In his litigation practice, John acts as BC counsel for several industrial product manufacturers. John is often retained in construction disputes and acts for design professionals and other professionals including accountants and insurance agents.
Michelle is an experienced wills, estates, trusts and corporate lawyer helping clients plan, build, and protect their legacies.
Michelle works with families and business owners across generations to navigate the often sensitive and complex field of estate and incapacity planning, estate administration, and family business succession planning. She works with clients to develop individualized estate plans that ensure her clients’ affairs are in order and that appropriate tax planning is in place to ease both the financial and emotional burden when a loved one passes.
Michelle also works with executors, trustees and beneficiaries on obtaining representation grants, facilitating the orderly and tax efficient administration of an estate, and advising on estate and trust compliance matters.
In her corporate practice, Michelle works with private business owners and family enterprises to enable them to grow their business with the confidence and security of knowing that they have the legal advice and support they need behind them. Michelle has extensive experience advising on a wide variety of corporate and commercial issues, including business reorganization and corporate transactions.
Taahaa has a broad litigation practice, which includes insurance defence, subrogation, insurance coverage matters, debt recovery, professional negligence, construction, and product liability matters.
Taahaa has represented clients in the BC Supreme Court and BC Provincial Court, where he pairs his skill in written and oral advocacy with a passion for alternative dispute resolution.
Taahaa completed his Juris Doctor at Thompson Rivers University Law, where he was awarded the Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP Prize in Contract Law. He also received Dean’s Course Prizes in Contract Law, and Legislation, Administration, and Policy, whilst placing in the top 10% of students in his first year.
Outside of work, Taahaa is an avid reader, is overly passionate about football, and is interested in fashion and menswear.
Laura works primarily in the area of litigation with a focus on labour and employment disputes. She is an effective and diligent advocate for her clients, appearing on matters before the Provincial and Supreme Court of British Columbia, Human Rights Tribunal and Employment Standards Tribunal. Prior to joining Owen Bird as an associate, Laura worked as an articling student and summer student with the firm.
Laura completed her Juris Doctor at the University of Victoria. While in law school, Laura participated in an international exchange to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and completed a clinical term with the Law Centre in Victoria, BC. She volunteers with Access Pro Bono’s Civil Chambers and Residential Tenancy Programs.
Outside of work, Laura enjoys cooking, travelling, and being in the outdoors, especially swimming and hiking.
Lily has a broad litigation practice with a focus in bankruptcy and insolvency and commercial litigation. She regularly advocates for clients in court and has appeared in all levels of court in British Columbia, including in trials, lengthy contested applications, and appeals.
Lily is fluent in and advises clients in Mandarin.
Lily is a director of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (British Columbia) Society, a contributing editor of The Advocate magazine, and a member of the Young Advocates Standing Committee of The Advocates’ Society cross-appointed to the Diversity and Inclusion Standing Committee.
