Craig McIvor

Craig grew up in Etobicoke, Ontario. Law runs in the family – his sister is a lawyer and his father, though now retired, spent his career with a major national firm in Toronto. Craig graduated from McGill University in 2004 before achieving his LL.B. from the University of British Columbia law school. Craig has called Vancouver home since 2005 and now works as a trial lawyer with Preszler Law BC.

Craig’s interests as a lawyer have always been in courtroom advocacy. Earlier, he worked in several areas of the law – essentially, anything that would put him inside a courtroom. This early practice allowed him to develop his skills as a litigator. Some of this work, which included defending claims for insurance companies, also gave him insider knowledge on how things work “on the other side.” Eventually, though, Craig realized that his true passion was fighting insurance companies on behalf of disadvantaged and injured plaintiffs. He then joined a plaintiff-only personal injury firm in the Vancouver area and never looked back, practicing exclusively for plaintiffs ever since.

Craig has had several courtroom success in recent years, including Dabu v. Schwab, 2016 BCSC 613; Zhang v. Ghebreanenya, 2015 BCSC 938; Dizon v. Losier, 2017 BCSC 431; and Diep v. Cunha, 2015 BCSC 819. In Dabu, the court found the defendant’s evidence to be unreliable [paras. 25-29]. In Dizon, the court found that a defence witness had colluded with the defendant to fabricate his evidence and commit perjury, awarding Craig’s client “special costs” as a result [paras. 43-47].

While trial is occasionally necessary, Craig recognizes that knowledge of the case, good communication, and productive settlement discussions will result in a fair settlement most of the time. Craig knows that that the legal system can be challenging and confusing, and he values excellent communication with his clients. This enables him to advocate their suffering and losses in discussions with opposing parties, leading to a better chance of a fair settlement.

Outside of the office, Craig enjoys a variety of sports and outdoor activities in-and-around the Vancouver area, as well as playing board games with his friends. He is an avid fan of the Seattle Seahawks season ticket holder.