Murray Campbell,

Clients are quick to commend Murray's "very timely, well thought-out and balanced approach." He advises on pensions and benefits disputes as well as regulatory matters. Interviewees find him to be "an extremely experienced, thoughtful legal expert."

- Chambers Canada, 2021 Guide

Murray is the head of Western Canada's largest and most experienced Pensions and Benefits Law Group. He has practiced exclusively in the pension and benefits area since 1994. His clients are boards of trustees and other sponsors of pension and benefit plans in the public and private sectors in British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.

He has significant experience advising clients with respect to the reorganization and modernization of their pension and benefit plans, as well as their governing documents.  He assisted with the introduction of joint trusteeship to pension plans in the British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba public sectors, and currently acts for more than a dozen joint boards of trustees of public sector pension and benefit plans. 

While Murray is a solicitor, he regularly provides strategic direction and technical support in pension and benefit litigation matters.

• Pension and Benefits Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association (B.C. Branch) (1993 – 1995) and (2008 – 2010), Chair
• International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, Member
• International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association (IPEBLA), Member
• Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute, Member

• Forest Hills Little League (North Vancouver), Coach (2004-2012)
• Lawyers Assistance Program of BC Society, Board Member (2001-2007)

• Chambers Canada: Pensions & Benefits - Nationwide (Band 1), 2024-2025
• Best Lawyers in Canada:
  • Employee Benefits Law, 2006-2025
  • Lawyer of the Year: Employee Benefits Law (Vancouver), 2011, 2013, 2018, 2021 and 2024
• Thomson Reuters: Stand-Out Lawyer, 2024
• The Legal 500 Canada: Pensions (Leading Individual), 2021-2025
• Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: Pensions and Employee Benefits - Employer (Leading Practitioner), 2023-2024
• Who's Who Legal:
  • Labour, Employment & Benefits (Canada), 2023
  • Labour, Employment & Benefits (Global Guide), 2023
• Lexpert Guide to US/Canada Cross-Border Lawyers in Canada: Labour & Employment, 2018
• Lexpert Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada: Pensions and Employee Benefits Law
• Martindale-Hubbell International Law Directory: AV Peer Review rated

Pension and Benefit Experience (Contentious Matters) 

Involved in disputes over or involving:

• Collection of exit levies from employers leaving non collectively bargained multi-employer pension plans and health and welfare trusts
• Entitlement to pre-retirement death benefits
• Recovery of benefit overpayments, including recovery on account of recovery from third party
• Disability benefit denial
• Systemic or ad hoc failure to enroll in pension or benefit plan, and collection of resulting arrears
• Errors in pension estimates and similar communication, and allegations of detrimental reliance
• Trustee deadlock resolution
• Registration of pension plan amendments converting floating indexing to fixed indexing
• Entitlement to post-retirement group benefits, and closure of such programs to new entrants
• Integration of registered pensions plans with Canada Pension Plan
• Enhanced early retirement entitlement

Pension and Benefits Experience (Non-Litigious Matters)

• Advises over 30 boards of trustees of multi-employer pension or benefit plans
• Helped with every conversion to date of a British Columbia DC pension plan to a Target Benefit plan
• Assisted several boards of trustees and employers transition from single employer pension or benefit arrangements to multi-employer arrangements
• Assisted several disability plan sponsors introduce “quarantine clauses” and other plan modifications in response to COVID-19
• Assisted in several mergers of health and welfare trusts and employee life and health trusts
• Acted as lead negotiator for employer in the collective bargaining of the reorganization of a significant British Columbia public sector pension plan
• Helped introduce Saskatchewan's first target benefit pension plan
• Chaired Union Management Task Force constituted to determine future pension arrangements for a large public sector employer – implemented unanimous report accepted by all parties
• Conducted review of governance structure of staff pension plan of significant public sector employer, and implemented recommendations
• Helped introduce joint trusteeship to several public sector pension plans in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba
• Advises trustees and other plan sponsors on fiduciary liability
• Drafts,  and amends and restates plan texts and trust agreements for RPPs, health and welfare plans, and employee life and health trusts
• Drafts and implements supplemental pension arrangements
• Drafts and implements letters of credit trust arrangements to secure supplemental pension arrangements
• Helped establish new defined benefit multi-employer pension plan
• Prepares opinions on, and liaises with regulators and plan sponsors regarding, surplus ownership, contribution holidays and payment of administrative expenses