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Excellence
CHILLIWACK PROFILES OF
Patten Thornton Barristers & Solicitors
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hen something in your life has gone wrong or needs fixing, often times you need to hire a lawyer.
That’s why it’s critically important you hire a lawyer with experience, expertise and a commitment to the client.
Add to that a legal team with deep roots in the community, a firm that knows its way, literally and figuratively, around the city, and you could hardly do any better than Patten Thornton, Barristers & Solicitors. “We have a really great history in town,” partner Kristen Mundstock says. “We’ve been around for a long time and we know a lot of people and we know our way around.” The team at Patten Thornton is made up of senior partner, Donald Patten, partners, Michael Thornton, Kristen Mundstock and Andrew Briscoe and associates, David MacLachlan and Peter Thornton.
judge. Andrew Briscoe joined the firm as a partner in 2002. With its feet set firmly in the community, Patten Thornton also practices a brand of law that sees that the lawyers have their eyes and hands right in your file. “We are basically all hands-on as lawyers,” Thornton says. “We’ll take a case from start to finish—do the interviewing, look at the documentation, decide if it’s relevant—those decisions are being made by lawyers rather than paralegals.” A lot of law firms these days are using paralegals to do much of the important legwork in a court case. Paralegals are not lawyers and they do not have the same skills and knowledge that lawyers possess. “That was the way we were taught,” Mundstock says. “We don’t get our staff to do things that require a legal mind.”
The firm has expertise in many areas of the law. From civil litigation to employment law and from family law to personal injury, the team’s trial experience and legal expertise is broad.
The practice of being so hands-on means the firm handles fewer cases than they might otherwise, but for the clients they do represent, that representation is as solid as it could be.
Don Patten was born in Chilliwack, he was called to the bar in 1964 and he has been practising at an office on Main Street in downtown Chilliwack ever since. His father was a doctor in Chilliwack and his grandfather was one of the first doctors in the community. Don is a past president of Rotary, past chair of the Chilliwack Foundation, past director of the Downtown BIA, the Chilliwack Family YMCA and Chilliwack Restorative Justice. He also served in elected office as a member of the school board for 14 years and chair for eight of those years.
“I think the quality of service is better at the end of the day,” Thornton says.
Partners Michael Thornton, Kristen Mundstock and Andrew Briscoe have similar commitment to the community. Michael Thornton became a partner in 1991. Kristen Mundstock became a partner in 1999, when former partner, Thomas Crabtree, was appointed a Provincial Court
Hiring a lawyer in personal injury matters can be an intimidating experience for some people. To that, Thornton says two things: firstly, they won’t charge you a nickel to come have a chat about personal injury claims, and secondly, the difference between representing yourself and having a lawyer is night and day. When it comes to personal injury, for example, dealing with ICBC without a lawyer often means settling claims for under $10,000. “Very often that is not even in the ballpark for compensation,” Thornton says.
“We’ll take a case from start to finish—do the interviewing, looking at the documenation, deciding if it’s relevant—those decisions are being made by lawyers rather than paralegals.”
Patten Thornton www.pattenthornton.com 9245 Main Street Chilliwack 604-795-9188 info@pattenthornton.com
Putting your case in the hands of experienced, home-grown lawyers such as the team at Patten Thornton means giving your case the best possible shot.
PHOTO: The Patten Thornton team has deep roots in Chilliwack.
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