Background

Bruce Churchill-Smith is a partner at our Calgary office. Bruce was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1982.  He is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of the University of Calgary with a Juris Doctor in 1981. Bruce is the Regional Leader of the Insurance and Tort Liability Group.

Areas of Practice

• Bruce practises primarily in the areas of Insurance, Products Liability, Transportation, and Oil and Gas Litigation.

Rankings and Recognitions

• Martindale-Hubbell BV® Distinguished™ 4.4 out of 5 Peer Review Rating
• Recognized in the 2011 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (Personal Injury)
• Recognized in Who's Who Legal: Canada 2011 (Insurance & Reinsurance)

Professional Experience

• Bruce's background includes:
• Appearances before the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, the Alberta and British Columbia Courts of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Yukon and the Federal Court of Canada
• Representing a number of property and casualty insurers and his insurance litigation practice includes professional liability and coverage disputes
• Representing many manufacturers on product liability claims including in the oil and gas sector, as well as food contamination, medical devices, drugs and sports related equipment.
• Representing oil and gas companies with a focus on oil and gas insurance matters. His experience includes provision of coverage opinions on energy, comprehensive general liability, and pollution/environmental policies.
• Bruce has completed his Advanced Mediation Civil Litigation, through The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia and has acted as a mediator in a number of mediations.

Professional Activities

• President, Pro Bono Law Alberta (PBLA)
• Chair, National Pro Bono Committee of BLG
• Conference Committee Member, 3rd National Pro Bono Conference; September 2010
• Advisory Board, 2011 Lexpert Zenith Awards: Celebrating Corporate Social Responsibility
• Coordinator, Child Advocacy Pro Bono Project; (Joint Initiative) BLG, the Children's Legal Education Resource Centre (CLERC) and Pro Bono Law Alberta (PBLA); October 2007
• Member, Law Society of Alberta Pro Bono Task Force
• Member, BLG National Business Development Committee and Steering Committee
• Member, Canadian Defence Lawyers' Association (CDL)
• Past Director, Current Member of Canadian Transport Lawyers Association and member of Transport Lawyers Association
• Member of the Advisory Board, 2010 Lexpert Zenith Awards: Celebrating Pro Bono Publico
• Member of the Board of Directors of ALFA International  the Global Legal Network
• Member, ALFA Products Liability, Transportation and Insurance Practice Groups
• Member, ALFA Finance Committee
• Member, Federation of Defence & Corporate Counsel (FDCC)
• Member, Association of Defense and Trial Attorneys (ADTA)
• Member, Defence Research Institute (D.R.I.)
• Member, Trucking Insurance Defense Association (TIDA)
• Member, Alberta Arbitration & Mediation Society
• Member, Canadian Bar Association, Civil Litigation, Labour & Employment, Alternate Dispute Resolution Subsections
• Member, The Advocates' Society
• Past Member, Professional Responsibility - Code Subcommittee, The Law Society of Alberta
• Member, Pro Bono Initiative, The Law Society of Alberta
• Past Chair, Volunteer Lawyers Service
• Member, Canadian Bar Association Mentor Program
• Past Practice Assessor, The Law Society of Alberta

Presentations, Papers and Publications

• Speaker, Cross-Border Litigation, ALFA International Client Seminar, Business Litigation in Real Time; March 2011
• Speaker, Pro Bono Across the Nations, 3rd National Pro Bono Conference; September 2010
• Speaker, Opening and Closing Remarks of the Conference, 3rd National Pro Bono Conference; September 2010
• Speaker, Bill C-6: Canada Consumer Products Safety Act, ALFA Products Liability International Client Seminar; March 2010
• Speaker, Electronic Discovery and Trucking Technology: State-of-the-Art Technology, How to Preserve and Protect ESI, ALFA Transportation Practice Group Seminar, May 2009
• e-Discovery: The Canadian Perspective, May, 2008
• Speaker, Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Canada, ALFA International Client Seminar, March, 2008
• Speaker, Products Liability; The Canadian Insurance Claims Manager's Association; October 2007
• Panelist, from 'Ashes to the Courtroom', Fire Investigation Seminar for the Insurance Institute of Southern Alberta, Calgary, Alberta February; 2006
• Speaker, Product, Safety and Liability Conference, National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Chicago, Illinois; 2005
• Speaker, Effective Advocacy in Judicial Dispute Resolutions, Legal Education Society of Alberta; 2004
• Speaker, Motor Carrier Liability: A Canadian Perspective, Association of Transportation Law, Logistics & Policy (ATLLP), Jackson Hole, Wyoming; 2004
• Speaker, 4th Annual Insurance Conference; The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia; 2004
• Speaker, Manufacturer's Duty to Warn: A Canadian Perspective; Canadian Defence Lawyers Association; 2003
• Speaker, Mediation, Alberta Association of Insurance Adjusters; 2000
• Manufacturer's Duty to Warn: A Canadian Perspective; Published in the Federation of Defence & Corporate Counsel Quarterly; 2004
• Spoliation Issues in Canada; Product Liability Compendium, ALFA International; 2001
• Wrongful Death; Transportation Law Compendium, ALFA International; 2004

Community Activities

• Past Chair and current Trustee, Forum for Young Albertans
• Council Member, Foothills Medical Centre Development Council
• Member, Calgary Chamber of Commerce
• Past Member, Board of Directors, Women's Health Development Council