Bruno De Vita, K.C. is a member of the firm’s litigation practice and a former Managing Partner of the firm. He practices in the area of civil litigation with an emphasis on insurance law, governmental liability, class actions, and personal injury litigation. His clients include major insurance companies, self-insured corporations, local governments, religious institutions, and athletic associations.
Bruno’s practice involves handling complex insurance coverage cases and the prosecution and defence of large property damage and business interruption claims. He regularly acts for underwriters on large property and liability coverage issues and has successfully defended insurers in disputes involving policy interpretation, bad faith, arson, and fraud. He also advises insurers on duty to defend issues and is frequently involved in complex coverage and subrogation matters. He is regularly involved in defending catastrophic injury claims, including those involving spinal cord and brain injuries.
Bruno has also acted for professionals, including lawyers, real estate agents, insurance brokers, and psychologists, in both liability and disciplinary matters. He has acted as defence counsel in several civil cases dealing with allegations of sexual abuse and vicarious liability for sexual abuse and has significant experience acting for religious institutions in historical abuse claims. He has also represented sports organizations and governing bodies in high-profile matters, including class action litigation.
In 2016, Bruno was appointed Deputy Chair of the Investigatory Chamber of the Independent FIFA Ethics Committee, where he acts as Chief of Investigation in matters involving alleged breaches of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
In 2015, Bruno was appointed as an arbitrator of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he is a member of the general panel and the football panel.
Bruno has been consistently recognized as a leading lawyer in insurance and litigation matters. In 2014, he was awarded “Insurance Lawyer of the Year” by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association and was appointed King’s Counsel in 2016. He has been recommended in Best Lawyers in Canada for Insurance Law, Legal Malpractice Law, and Professional Malpractice Law. He has been named a Benchmark Canada Litigation Star in Class Action and Insurance Law and has been consistently recommended in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for Litigation – Commercial Insurance. He was also featured in the Lexpert Special Edition on Canada’s Leading Litigation Lawyers.