About Us

Dairn Owen Shane

Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer and Estate Lawyer

Dairn was born in Ontario, did an honours degree in psychology from McMaster University, and ultimately moved to British Columbia, where he completed his law degree at the University of British Columbia in 1992. He has a published paper in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, several published short stories, and was a legal writer with Canada Law Book for over a decade. He is currently a member of the Law Society of British Columbia, the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association, and the Trial Lawyers of British Columbia.

Dairn Shane works exclusively on behalf of injured people against insurance companies. He has resolved well over 2000 claims by way of negotiated settlements or trial results. He has appeared at all levels of court - most notably two appearances at the Supreme Court of Canada as lead counsel, with the most recent appearance being in January 2017.

Dairn achieved an honours psychology degree in 1989 from McMaster University, and then obtained his law degree from UBC in 1992, where he graduated as President of the Law Students Association. He became a lawyer in Ontario in 1994, and a lawyer in BC in 1998. He wrote extensively for Western Legal Publications, and then Canada Law Book, from 1998 through to 2003,

Dairn joined the law firm of Simpson Thomas & Associates in September 2000, eventually becoming a partner in January 2014. In August 2016 he moved his practice and joined with PreszlerLaw BC as an Associate Counsel. In so doing he expanded his work beyond motor vehicle accident claims, and now represents people injured in many different types of incidents, including injuries on commercial airlines.

Dairn has successfully conducted many Supreme Court trials throughout his career - both judge alone and jury trials. He has made numerous appearances in the BC Court of Appeal, including a victory in 2015 which ensured plaintiffs in personal injury cases were entitled to costs. He has also gone to Ottawa to argue in the Supreme Court of Canada on two occasions. In 2003 he won a landmark constitutional decision at the Supreme Court of Canada [see Trociuk v, AG of BC] which expanded the rights of fathers to be acknowledged on birth registration forms. In January 2017 he appeared again in the Supreme Court of Canada, this time arguing for an expansion of the way psychological injuries are established and compensated in the courts (See Saadati v. Moorhead et al] . In June 2017 the Supreme Court of Canada released their decision allowing this appeal - a substantial victory for personal injury law claimants, and in particular, those who suffer from traumatically induced psychological injuries. Shortly after that Dairn ran a three week jury trial on a psychological injury case, and after being instructed on the law from the Saadati decision, the jury awarded Dairn's client $1.8 million dollars.

Dairn represents clients from many different communities and offers services in a wide range of languages including Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi and Hindi.

Dairn works on a contingency fee basis meaning his fee is a percentage of what he recovers. He also carries all legal disbursements until the claim is concluded - the client pays nothing until the claim is resolved.

Dairn is known for his ability to explain complex legal processes to clients in ways that are easy to understand, and his ability to negotiate effectively with insurance companies and their lawyers.

You may have seen, heard or read of Dairn on Team 1040 radio, CTV, Sing Tao newspapers, Fairchild TV, The Voice Newspapers, and Spice Radio, amongst others. He recently sponsored and presented the "Intelligence Award" at the Miss Vancouver Chinese Pageant.