John Vamplew

Partner

John Vamplew Law Corporation

Profile

John’s practice focusses on a broad range of complex insurance coverage, subrogation and property damage disputes.  John has extensive experience handling fire loss, product liability and class action claims and he routinely advises insurers on coverage obligations under CGL, Commercial Property, Comprehensive Homeowner, Course of Construction and Life & Disability policies.

John is a co-founder of the firm’s Subrogation Practice Group and a past chair of the firm’s Insurance Coverage Practice Group.  John, who identifies as legally blind, is also a co-founder of the firm’s Disability & Inclusion Committee.

John enjoys finding creative solutions to complex disputes.  To better serve his clients, John has recently completed the Mediation Program at Harvard Law School, and the “Mediating the Litigated Case” program at Pepperdine University’s Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution.

Outside of work, John likes to cook, travel and spend time with his wife Crystal and their two teenage boys. To the astonishment of friends and family, John has twice completed the Vancouver-Whistler Gran Fondo bike ride.

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Education

Mediation Program, Harvard Law School, 2021

“Mediating the Litigated Case”, Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University, 2021

LL.B., University of New Brunswick, 1994

B.A., University of British Columbia, 1990

Professional Memberships & Affiliations

Called to the British Columbia Bar in 1995

Called to the Northwest Territories Bar in 2002

Member of the Canadian Bar Association Insurance Law, Product Liability and ADR Sections

Member of the National Association of Subrogation Professionals

Past Chair, National Insurance Section, Canadian Bar Association

Past Chair, BC Insurance Section, Canadian Bar Association

Publications

Publication & Speaking Engagements:

NASP Canadian Subrogation Forum, seminar presentation, 2021

Maximizing Recovery in Fire Loss Claims, seminar presentation to the BC Insurance Institute, 2021

Legalization of Cannabis: Emergent Insurance Issues & Potential Fire Risks, seminar presentation to the BC Insurance Institute, 2019

Allocation of Defence Costs Between Covered and Uncovered Claims, 2013 Insurance Law, vol. XIV, No. 1.

Subrogation in B.C. – A Claim’s Handler’s Checklist, 2012

Subrogation: An Insurance Claim’s Handler’s Guide to Recovery Actions in British Columbia, 2012

Subrogation: A Lawyers Guide to Recovery Actions in Canada, Paper presented at the Canadian Bar Association’s Canadian Legal Conference in Vancouver, BC, August 2012

Subrogation Success – What Insurers Can Do to Avoid Leaving Money on the Table, Panel speakers at the National Insurance Conference of Canada, Vancouver, BC, 2011

The New Supreme Court Civil Rules: Implications for Claims Handlers, 2010

Ten Things Property and Casualty Insurers Should Know About the Proposed Amendments to the B.C. Insurance Act, Underwritings, Canadian Bar Association, April 2009

Case Comment: Jesuit Fathers of Upper Canada v. Guardian Insurance Co. of Canada, 25 Canadian Journal of Insurance Law 1 at 11, 2007

Subrogation: Basic Principles, Emerging Trends and Practical Considerations, Insurance Law Conference 2006 (Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C., 2006)

Guest speaker at the 2004 Insight Disability Claims Management and Litigation Conference

Guest speaker at the 2003 Canadian Life & Health Insurance Association Claims Conference

The Meaning of ‘Accident’ – Out of Serbonian Bog, 8 Insurance Law 441 at 442, 2003