Lawyers

Poyner Baxter features the services of two experienced legal professionals, namely James M. Poyner, and Patrick J. Poyner. Our firm is also supported by a team of well trained and highly experienced paralegal and administrative staff. For information on fees charged, please click here.

James M. Poyner

After graduating from law school at the University of British Columbia in 1964, Mr. Poyner was called to the bar of British Columbia in May 1965.

For the last 38 years he has practiced as a litigator at all levels of the British Columbia court system, as well as in the Supreme Court of Canada. He is a long standing member of the British Columbia Trial Lawyers Association.

Early in his career, Mr. Poyner gained extensive experience as a criminal law practitioner, both for the defence and as a crown prosecutor appointed by the Ministry of the Attorney General.  His trial experience includes other areas such as labour, matrimonial, construction and securities litigation.

For the past 17 years he has focused on personal injury litigation involving automobile accidents, industrial and domestic accidents, as well as dental and medical malpractice cases.

Since the introduction of the Class Proceedings Act in British Columbia in 1995 Mr. Poyner has been heavily involved in Class Action litigation, his firm being a major force in Western Canada on the Plaintiff's side of this area of law.  His firm has been directly responsible for the successful resolution of Class Actions brought in British Columbia against many major corporations such as Bausch & Lomb, Canada Life, Manulife Financial and Sun Life Assurance Company on behalf of tens of thousands of class member clients.

Over the years Mr. Poyner has also been very active in the community in civic politics and as a coach and manager of many athletic teams.  He has raised 4 children, two of whom are also members of the British Columbia bar.

Contact James Poyner at jim@poynerbaxter.com.

Patrick J. Poyner

Patrick Poyner attended the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma Washington and graduated with a B.A. in 1991.  Prior to attending law school, Patrick played professional baseball in the Texas Rangers and Montreal Expos organizations in 1991 and 1992.

Patrick was called to the British Columbia Bar in 1997 after attending law school at the University of Calgary.  Patrick joined Poyner Baxter in June 1997 and since that time his practice has included criminal defence, commercial disputes, and acting for plaintiffs in personal injury and class action cases.  Patrick has also had extensive involvement in acting for Indian Residential School Survivors in both the Alternative Dispute Resolution process and currently in the Independent Assessment Process.

Patrick is an accredited arbitrator and has worked as counsel with the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball and the Montreal Expos in player salary arbitration cases. 

Patrick currently serves as a member of the British Columbia Property Assessment Review Panel and the City of North Vancouver Board of Variance and he is on the Board of Directors for the British Columbia College of Dental Technicians. Click here to read the latest news about Patrick Poyner.

Contact Patrick Poyner at ppoyner@poynerbaxter.com.

Kenneth J. Baxter - retired

After graduating from the University of British Columbia with Bachelor of Arts and Law degrees, Mr. Baxter articled at the Vancouver firm of Shulman Tupper and Co. He was called to the British Columbia Bar in 1970. He has practiced primarily in the areas of criminal defence, commercial and personal injury law.

Since the enactment of the British Columbia Class Proceedings Act in 1995 his practice has primarily been focused on mass tort cases. Mr. Baxter and his partners have successfully settled 24 class action cases which have been approved by the Supreme Court Of British Columbia. These settlements have provided substantial benefits to thousands of British Columbians.

Mr. Baxter retired from active practice on July 31, 2008.  He is a keen golfer and a competitive sailor, having competed for the Sears Cup, Mallory Cup and Congressional Cup for Canada.  He has also competed in the Victoria Maui race, Star North Americans and Worlds, Dragon North Americans and the Bermuda race as well as 26 Swiftsures.

Contact Ken Baxter at ken@poynerbaxter.com.

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