We provide the legal support to help our clients accomplish their business objectives. Our firm’s boutique nature allows us to collaborate with our clients in a friendly and relaxed environment, providing customized and insightful legal advice in support of their businesses.
English Bay Law Corporation: Balancing business and the law.
GROWING TO SERVE YOU BETTER
On 01 August 2021, English Bay Law Corporation acquired the estate and trust law practice of Halldor K. Bjarnason. For more than twenty-five years Halldor has been trusted by clients to provide competent legal advice and trust structures that enable families with dependents with disabilities. Through the use of discretionary and special needs trusts, Halldor has assisted families in protecting their loved ones, enabling them to live as independently as possible with the help of trusted family, friends, and/or professionals. These discretionary and special needs trusts are particularly important for anyone receiving provincial disability assistance. These trusts also provide peace of mind for parents needing to prepare for the future well-being of their sons and daughters with disabilities. Assisting clients to maintain their own and/or their sons’/daughters’ independence through the use of discretionary trusts and other financial and estate planning tools have been hallmarks of Halldor’s law practice. We look forward to continuing the work Halldor began and which his clients entrust to us.
COVID-19 UPDATE—We are Still Working for you!
As everyone, we are concerned for our clients’ and employees’ health and balancing that priority with providing stellar service. We are open for business. Most business is being conducted by phone or email. Where necessary to sign documents, we have a protocol in place to be able to do so while maintaining distance and meeting our professional obligations. We are fortunate to have a large office space in which each paralegal and lawyer has both sufficient space to maintain social distance per Provincial and Federal Public Health Officer guidelines and their own office, with a door. We have modified procedures for entering the office, or our signing area, to eliminate contact, maintain social distance, and do our part to slow the spread of the virus.
If you need to physically attend our offices, we ask that on arrival you follow these procedures:
If the building, or the elevator, is locked, please telephone 604-734-6838 to advise our lawyer/staff that you have arrived. We will make arrangements for you to enter and come to our office on the 5th floor.
At our office, please enter but maintain distance of at least six feet from the reception desk. We will direct you to an alternate direct entrance to our signing room. The direct entrance will enable you to enter the signing room directly from the hallway and remain separated from our lawyer or paralegal who may enter the room from an internal door and remain on the opposite side of the room.
Please wait both for the signing room door to be opened, and for the person opening the door to move back to the opposite side of the room before you enter.
If you are here to sign documents, the person witnessing the signature will remain six feet away. You will be requested to sign all documents identified with colour “flags”. Hand sanitizer will be available in the room for your use. Having witnessed you sign, the witness will wait until you have left to execute the papers themselves. Copies will be forwarded to you by email or mail in due course;
If you require copies or originals right away, please exit the room briefly so that the documents can be signed, stamped and scanned as required. Once that is done, you will be invited to return and to collect your documents.
Once you have departed, our staff will then sanitize the room before further appointments.
In emergency circumstances, it may be possible to make home or hospital visits but customized arrangements will need to be made and it will depend on lawyer availability and risk concerns. Please call us directly if you need emergency service at home or in hospital.
We apologize for any extra time or inconvenience this procedure may require.
As much as possible, we strongly suggest that conversations with members of our firm be held by telephone, skype, facetime, etc. However, if you need to come into the firm for a signature, we believe this protocol will provide maximum protection for you and for members of our firm.
We thank you for your assistance and patience as we all face these challenging times, and we wish everyone well as we all face this
unprecedented challenge together.
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English Bay Law Corporation is an experienced Vancouver-based business law firm providing:
Business Law (including private equity and corporate records);
Real Estate Law (including commercial and residential mortgages, purchases, sales); and
Wills, Estates and Family Trusts.
We are able to collaborate one-on-one, to provide custom, insightful legal advice, whether you are looking for a one-off conveyance, a will, or more comprehensive support for your business and personal legal needs. We understand the pressures and rewards of running a business, and we aim to foster long-term relationships with our clients. Whether you need a private equity lawyer, or advice on shareholder agreements; or are buying, selling, or transferring real estate to family, we can help.
Our clients include individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurs, professional organizations, and charitable associations. The boutique nature of our firm means we are able to work with clients in a friendly and relaxed environment, providing them with customized and insightful legal advice.
We are located in Vancouver’s South Granville area: close to downtown but removed from the congestion and expense of a downtown location.
In August of 2014, English Bay Law Corporation acquired the law practice of Bennett Parkes LLP. Bennett Parkes is a trusted name in real estate conveyancing and corporate secretarial work. These services have now been fully integrated with English Bay Law Corporation. In 2016 English Bay Law acquired the practice of Stephanie Lawton so that Stephanie could enjoy retirement by travelling and spending more time with family.. Stephanie had a boutique practice for many years providing personalized service to corporate and individual clients in real estate, estates, and corporate law. In 2020 English Bay Law has been assisting Victor Alfonso to transition his clients as he moves from private practice into other business ventures.
