Pipella Law is pleased to announce that Derek Allchurch has joined the team at Pipella Law. Derek is a graduate of the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law. After articling in Edmonton and getting admitted to the Alberta Bar, he returned home to Calgary in 1995. From 1995 to present, Derek has worked as a Plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer at several Calgary law firms.
Derek is excited about his move to Pipella Law in January 2015, as he has personally witnessed Pipella Law’s commitment to excellence while representing injured Plaintiffs alongside Pipella Law for many years.
Derek has extensive court experience having appeared most frequently in the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. His most recent reported decision is McDonnell v. Csaki 2014 ABQB 452, where a potential commercial host was added to an ongoing tort action despite the 2 year limitation period having passed. Derek has also appeared in the Alberta Court of Appeal, the Provincial Court of Alberta and a wide variety of administrative tribunals including the Workers’ Appeal Commission, the CPP and EI Appeal Boards (now the Social Security Tribunal), and the AISH appeal panel.
Derek has extensive alternative dispute resolution experience having participated in approximately 100 private mediations, or Judicial Dispute Resolutions to date.
Since 2004, Derek has written a number of papers regarding the Minor Injury Regulation. His most recent paper entitled “Minor Injury? I don’t think so,” was presented at the June 2013 conference of the Atlantic Province Trial Lawyers Association in Moncton, New Brunswick. In 2010, Derek participated in a Canadian Bar Association presentation to the Alberta government caucus in Edmonton advocating for changes to the Minor Injury Regulation.
Derek is a past Chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s Personal Injury section (2006/07), and he also served as a Section Coordinator for the Canadian Bar Association between 2008 and 2010.
Derek was a volunteer lawyer at Calgary Legal Guidance from 1995 to 2013. He served as the Chair of Calgary Legal Guidance in 2011/12.
Derek has been a board member for CAUSE Canada since 2012; he is currently the Vice-Chair. CAUSE Canada is a Canmore based charity that provides sustainable community development programs in West Africa and Central America. In March 2014, Derek travelled to Sierra Leone where he observed many CAUSE projects in that country and had the opportunity to meet the Sierra Leone CAUSE staff.
Derek is an avid golfer, hockey player and skier. He recently retired from coaching hockey in the Trails West organization.
If you have suffered a personal injury, contact the personal injury lawyers at Pipella Law today to learn how they can help you recover from this traumatic experience.