Education

Bar Admission

  • 2010 Admitted to the British Columbia Bar
  • 2008 Admitted to the Alberta Bar

Laura Hanson is a Partner and member of the firm’s Business Disputes, Corporate/ Commercial, Insurance and Construction + Engineering Practice. Laura regularly acts as counsel for a wide variety of matters including business disputes, property claims that involve defending contractors, trades and engineers, and claims for product liability advanced against manufacturers and distributors.

Laura also regularly acts as coverage counsel for insurers, providing coverage opinions in relation to both property and liability claims for all types of policies, including Commercial and Homeowner policies, CGL policies, Director and Officer Liability policies and All-Risks and Wrap-Up and Course of Construction policies.  She also defends credit unions in relation to claims advanced for alleged failure to arrange for the placement of certain insurance, and handles complex and catastrophic personal injury claims. In doing this work, Laura regularly acts for major insurance companies and companies who are self-insured.

Laura’s practice focuses extensively on negotiation and mediation. She regularly participates in mediations for her clients in advance of trial and has extensive experience resolving claims by negotiation at or prior to mediation. She also regularly appears before the Supreme Court of British Columbia and has experience doing domestic arbitration work.

At Alexander Holburn, Laura was the 2022/23 chair of the Women’s Forum, a group dedicated to promoting business development and networking opportunities among our female lawyers, paralegals, and female clients. Laura is also an active member of the insurance defence legal community and has held the elected position of “Member-at-Large” for the Canadian Bar Association’s Insurance Subsection since 2018. Laura is also involved with volunteering for the Women’s Insurance Cancer Crusade (WICC), which is an insurance industry organization that assists in raising money in support of cancer research and education. She is a member of WICC’s Breakfast Event Committee, which is responsible for arranging a breakfast for the insurance industry to raise money to send children with cancer to Camp Goodtimes, which is a camp organized and run by the Canadian Cancer Society.

Prior to joining Alexander Holburn, Laura practiced at a large international law firm in Alberta where she practiced primarily in the area of commercial litigation.

Representative Experience

Laura’s representative experience includes appearing before the British Columbia Supreme Court, the Alberta Queen’s Bench, the Employment Standards Tribunal and the Provincial Court of Alberta. Laura has also represented an electricity company in Alberta in two complex arbitrations. The matters in which Laura has been involved range from complex multi-party construction disputes, catastrophic injury claims, and complex coverage disputes involving multiple insurers where claims for equitable contribution are advanced.  She also has experience litigating and resolving commercial litigation matters.

Examples of her experience include:

  • Successfully resolved large and complex construction claims where engineers, contractors or trades were alleged to have caused property damage
  • Successfully resolved a coverage dispute involving property damage in the amount of 12 million dollars where the insurers advanced claims for equitable contribution
  • Successfully resolved a contractual dispute arising from a 25 million dollar property damage claim
  • Successfully resolved product liability claims for manufacturers and distributors alleged to have breached the Sale of Goods Act
  • Successfully resolved personal injury claims involving complex traumatic brain injury allegations and insurance policy limit issues
  • Successfully resolved claims for life insurers alleged to owe death benefits
  • Successfully resolved claims for lawyers and law firms in legal malpractice actions where errors were alleged to have been made in a variety of areas including commercial litigation, real estate, wills and estates
  • Successful trial concerning the wrongful dismissal of an employee
  • Successful appeal of an employer at an Employment Standards Appeal
  • Successful defence of a Canadian railway company at a trial concerning charges under the Railway Safety Act
  • Successful resolution of a minority shareholder in a claim for oppression, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful dismissal
  • Successful resolution of a claim involving a company seeking specific performance for breach of an offer for purchase and sale, or alternatively, 5 million dollars in damages
  • Successful resolution of a 150 million dollar claim involving a major Canadian railway allegedly having breached an offer for purchase and sale
  • Co-Counsel at two arbitrations for a major electricity company in Alberta involving an 8 million dollar contractual dispute

Publications

  • October 2013, “The Occupiers Liability Act and Accident Prevention”, Client Presentation to Self-Insured Clients
  • February 2014, “Beware of Bears”, Dogwood Express (Winter Edition)
  • October 2016, “Unintentionally Extending a Plaintiff’s Limitation Period”, Alexander Holburn Insurance Law Blog, Author
  • August 10, 2018, “Handling Water Loss Claims in a Strata”, Client Presentation to Insurance Industry
  • September 19, 2018, “Property Coverage Potpourri”, Client Presentation to Insurance Industry

Professional & Community Affiliations

Laura's
Focus

Industries