YEAR OF CALL TO THE BAR: 2020

Emily Sheard is an associate lawyer, practicing primarily in the area of strata law. Ms. Sheard is an amiable and conscientious lawyer, who is focused on achieving successful and sustainable results for her clients. One of the many reasons Ms. Sheard is passionate about strata law is because of the diverse ways she assists clients. She is well versed in both solicitor and barrister work for strata corporations and strata owners.

In her solicitor’s practice, Ms. Sheard has drafted many sets of bylaws, as well as individual bylaws for strata corporations. Ms. Sheard’s approach to bylaw drafting involves understanding each strata corporation’s unique community and concerns. Her attention to detail serves her well in bylaw drafting, as well as assisting strata corporations with governance. Many individual owners also benefit from Ms. Sheard’s detailed approach in dealing with their strata matters.

Ms. Sheard also works closely with senior lawyer, founder and mentor Elaine McCormack to strategize and advise strata corporation clients on a number of intricate topics, including bylaw enforcement, unauthorized alterations, human rights matters, financial planning and recovery of monies owed to strata corporations.

In other areas of law, Ms. Sheard has assisted clients with real property law matters including easements, covenants protecting greenspace and wildlife, homeowners corporations, Residential Tenancy Branch matters, as well as wills and estates matters.

In her barrister practice, Ms. Sheard appears at all levels of Superior Court in British Columbia concerning strata matters. She was co-counsel in a costs assessment proceeding for an order for sale matter that resulted in a decision whereby the strata corporation was entitled to a substantial amount of legal fees as costs. She was also co-counsel for a court-appointed administrator of a strata corporation on a successful application to approve of the administrator accounts. The Court in that case also ordered a deemed special levy to pay for the outstanding accounts.

In other areas of law, Ms. Sheard appears at the Residential Tenancy Branch, and has appeared at the Supreme Court of British Columbia concerning an estate matter.

Ms. Sheard has dispute resolution and mediation training, and has participated in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of British Columbia (ADRBC)’s Med-Arb Demonstration at its annual Symposium.

Ms. Sheard enjoys contributing to the education of the strata community through presentations and authorship. She presents for the Condominium Home Owners Association (CHOA) and the Professional Association of Managing Agents (PAMA).

Ms. Sheard has co-authored a number of articles for The Scrivener, the CHOA Journal and the Strata-sphere magazine, and co-authored materials for the British Columbia Financial Services Authority (BCFSA)’s annual legal updates.

Ms. Sheard has been with Wilson McCormack Law Group since her articles, which is demonstrative of her dedication to the area of strata law. She has accomplished much during her time with the firm thus far and looks forward to further developing her practice in strata law with Wilson McCormack, and providing education to the strata community.

When Ms. Sheard is not working, she enjoys swimming, crocheting and spending time with her pets.

Education