David R. Mackenzie

Profile

David, a partner in the firm's Insurance Coverage Counsel and Insurance Litigation Groups, practices both commercial and insurance litigation, with an emphasis on insurance coverage and complex multi-party disputes. He has acted as counsel in claims concerning products liability, environmental liability, personal injury, construction defect, commercial disputes, as well as subrogation counsel in multi-party fire loss claims.

He was first called to the Bar of Washington State in 1998, before returning to British Columbia to complete an LL.M. degree at the University of British Columbia in 1999.

Recent Decisions and Matters

• Acted as subrogation counsel in large multi-party fire losses;
• Acted as coverage counsel for insurers with respect to claims arising out of domestic, U.S., and cross-border environmental contamination;
• Acted as coverage counsel for insurers with respect to toxic tort/products liability claims;
• Acted as coverage counsel for insurers with respect to historic sexual abuse claims;
• Acted as coverage counsel for insurers with respect to construction defect claims;
• Acted as coverage counsel for insurers with respect to property damage claims;
• Kruger Products Limited v. First Choice Logistics Inc.,  2010 BCSC 1242, successfully subrogated against defendants in a major fire loss.
• Donaldson v. Pacific Promotions et al. 2009 BCCA 38, acted as counsel in respect of the defence of commercial host liability claims.
• Khanna v. Nederpel 2007 BCSC 1335, successfully defended a road maintenance contractor in a claim for personal injuries arising out of a car accident in icy conditions;
• Palmer v. City of Burnaby 2006 BCSC 165, successfully resisted a demand for injunctive relief arising out of concerts in Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park;

Lectures and Publications

• "Progressive Homes Ltd. v. Lombard General Insurance Co. of Canada, 2010 SCC 33", Insurance Bulletin, September 2010, referenced in Claims Canada Magazine and reprinted in the Defence Research Institute’s "Covered Events" newsletter
• 2007; DRI Construction Defect Claims Compendium
• Chapter on Canadian law in respect of insurance coverage for construction defect claims
• "Passports Please: Cross Border Issues in Insurance Coverage"
• Co-Author, DRI’s Insurance Coverage and Claims Conference, December 2006, New York, NY
• "Keeping it Straight: Excluding Business Risks, Concurrent Causation and the Reasonable Expectations of the Parties"
• Co-Author, Canadian Institute’s 2006 Construction Law Conference, Vancouver, BC
• "CGL Triggers and Allocation in Progressive or Continuous Loss"

David has contributed chapters for "Annotated Commercial General Liability Policy", a leading Canadian insurance coverage text co-authored by Mark Lichty. His contributions include:

• 2005 edition - Chapter on "Bodily Injury" and "Property Damage"
• 2004 edition - Chapters on Adverting Injury Liability and Personal Injury Liability
• 2003 edition - Chapters on "Allocation of Defence Costs" and “Pollution Liability Exclusion” in CGL Policies
• 2002 edition - Chapters on "Your Product", "Your Work" and "Impaired Property" exclusions in CGL policies

Community Involvement

David has represented clients of Pro Bono law of British Columbia before the B.C. Court of Appeal.