Martin R. Taylor, K.C.

Martin R. Taylor, K.C. is an associate counsel who assists the firm’s litigators and whose services are also available to the profession as consultant, arbitrator and mediator.

Mr. Taylor practised for 15 years as counsel, including counsel for the provincial government in public utility, energy and related matters and for two public enquiry commissions, before appointment to the British Columbia Supreme Court, on which he sat for 11 years. He served for six years on the British Columbia Court of Appeal and thereafter part-time on the Court of Appeal for the Cayman Islands. Since retiring from the British Columbia courts he has served also as special referee, arbitrator, mediator, and commissioner including Ethics Commissioner for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, carried out a number of government assignments and frequently advised members of the profession.

As sole arbitrator, chair or member of domestic and international arbitration panels, special referee or commissioner, Mr. Taylor has dealt with a wide range of commercial and other issues.

Mr. Taylor has written for legal publications and spoken at professional, judicial and academic gatherings on a range of legal topics, and been involved in production of television docu-dramas, The Paisley Snail, featuring the famous case of Donohue v. Stevenson, and Though the Heavens Fall, celebrating the centennial of the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

In 1998 Mr. Taylor received the BC Law Society’s Begbie Award for exceptional service, and in 2009 the UBC Law Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award.

News

August 2021

Paisley Irregulars Essay Competition in Negligence Law

The Paisley Irregulars Essay Competition in Negligence Law was established in recognition of the Honourable Martin R. Taylor Q.C., former Justice of the British Columbia Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, Cayman Island Court of Appeal and Associate Counsel at Hunter Litigation Chambers. Mr. Taylor led the Canadian Bar Association’s 1990 Conference on the Law of Negligence (aka “The Pilgrimage to Paisley”), commemorating the House of Lords judgment in Donoghue v. Stevenson, [1932] AC 562 (HL), which established the duty of care principle in AngloCanadian negligence law. Mr. Taylor was also spoke at the 2012 Paisley Snail Conference commemorating the 80th anniversary of the judgment. Interested law students, articling students and judicial law clerks can find the full competition rules here.