Bio:

Called to the Bar in British Columbia in 1989, Susan’s practice is focused on personal injury litigation for plaintiffs, defendants and their insurers, including out of Province and American companies. Prior to joining Harris & Brun in 2003 she acted as in-house counsel with ICBC’s litigation department. She has appeared in the Provincial, Supreme and Appeal Courts of British Columbia and has conducted numerous judge alone and jury trials. Susan has considerable experience in Chambers applications, including production of computer data and other medical and/or wage related documents, the scope of medical examinations and the inspection and preservation of property.

Susan has handled the broad spectrum of personal injury claims, from low velocity impacts to chronic pain, fibromyalgia, thoracic outlet syndrome, fractures, brain injuries, fatalities and other catastrophic injuries. In addition, she has an interest in Workers’ Compensation Board issues.

Memberships & Professional Affiliations:

• Law Society of British Columbia
• Canadian Bar Association
• Trial Lawyers Association of BC
• Canadian Defence Lawyers
• Medical Legal Society of British Columbia

Positions:

Susan has been a past contributor to the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia and past Secretary of the Victoria Civil Litigation Subsection.

Lectures / Publications / Seminars:

The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia:

• PLTC Mock Civil Trial – 3/17/1996 – PLTC Guest Instructor, Vancouver
• Personal Injury for Legal Support Staff – 12/8/2006 – Course Presenter
• Personal Injury for Legal Support Staff – 2006 Update – 12/8/2006  - Course Materials Author
• Discovery Practice 2007 – 6/7/2007 – Course Presenter
• Civil Litigation Basics for Legal Support Staff – 12/3/2009 – Course Presenter

Reported (and Unreported) Cases*:

Click on the underlined case names for the full text of some of Susan’s notable and recent cases:

• Semkiw v Wilkosz 2009 BCSC 533 – A case involving the failure of a party to properly list documents and maintain its claims of privilege over same.
• Hutchings v Dow, 2006 BCSC 629 – A case which addressed the application of indivisible injuries to subsequent tortuous events, an area of tort law which is evolving.
• Gemmell v Reddicopp, 2005 BCCA 628 – An appeal of a mistrial which was ordered following an application by the defendants after jury closing submissions by opposing counsel, and involving the appropriate scope of counsel submissions. Ms. Rowed was counsel in both the Supreme and Appeal Court decisions.
• ICBC v Ng, March 9, 1999 Victoria Registry – A case involving multiple car accidents and a number of claimants wherein ICBC was successful in having all of the matters heard at the same time in light of its allegations of civil conspiracy. The matters thereafter reached an out of court settlement.

*References to successful case results where the lawyers at Harris & Brun have acted for clients are not a guarantee of future results. The outcome of every legal proceeding will vary according to the facts in each individual case.

Education:

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Ms. Rowed obtained her undergraduate B.Sc. (Agr.) degree in Animal Science, was an agrologist and a commercial airline transport pilot and a chief flying instructor.

Law School:

Dalhousie University