Our Roots

David Twining and Kerry Short have been litigators in Vancouver for over thirty years. Originally from large, established law firms, David and Kerry wanted to develop a new and more flexible approach in working with clients, resolving disputes and conducting litigation.

In 1997, David and Kerry left the office towers and tall buildings and, along with Tom Barnes, founded Barnes, Twining & Short as a boutique litigation firm, eventually establishing themselves in a heritage space in Vancouver’s Yaletown area in 2002.

In 2005, Tom Barnes was asked to head up the Municipal Insurance Association of British Columbia while David and Kerry continued to practise as Twining & Short. Dana Russell joined the firm in 2000 as an associate and has been with the firm since. Doug Morrison joined the firm in 2005. Sadly, Doug passed away in 2010.

Steven Haakonson practised for 17 years as an associate, partner and sole practitioner prior to joining Twining & Short in 2010. Steve joined the partnership in 2012.

Scott Twining joined the firm in 2015 and the partnership in 2016 after practising for several years at another Vancouver law firm.

Cassandra Paterson was a welcome addition to the firm in 2016 after she articled and practised at an international law firm in Vancouver. Prior to that she spent twelve months as a Judicial Law Clerk for the British Columbia Supreme Court. Cassandra was called to the bar in 2015.

In 2018, Brandon Piva joined the firm after he articled at a leading national law firm in Vancouver and was called to the British Columbia Bar.

At the end of the 2018 Kerry transitioned from being a Partner to being Associate Counsel at Twining, Short & Haakonson. In 2020, Kerry ceased practising law and moved to CMB Mediation, a boutique mediation firm, to conduct mediations full time.

Stefanie Gladders joined the firm in 2020 after articling at a national law firm. Steven Lesiuk joined the firm as Associate Counsel in 2020, and Kathleen Duffield joined as Associate Counsel and Mediator in 2022.

All of the lawyers in our firm pride themselves in the quality of the legal representation we are able to offer our clients.