Mr. MacLean is one of the top 25 most influential lawyers of 2020 based on his impact on family law in British Columbia.
Nominations were made by legal groups and associations representing a variety of memberships and geographies, Canadian Lawyer readership and an internal panel of writers and editors. Mr. MacLean received the most votes in the changemaker category based on his groundbreaking work in multiple family law cases in British Columbia.
For example, in Wang v. Jiang et al, 2020 BCSC 145, MacLean obtained a six-month jail sentence against the respondent husband for contempt and perjury in order to protect his client, as well as family property worth $1.2 million, winning a lump sum spousal support of $800,000, child support of $12,666 per month and special costs amounting to $410,000.
In Devathasan v. Devathasan, 2017 and again in Devthasan 2019 BCSC 661, he secured a worldwide Mareva injunction on family property in Canada, the U.S., Singapore and Southeast Asia worth almost $50 million; interim spousal support of more than $83,000 a month; child support of more than $21,000 a month; and a lifetime protection order followed by combined spousal and child support of $116,000 a month at trial, $22 million of property for his client and special costs of nearly $1,5000,000.
In Li v. Rao, 2019 BCCA 56, he contended that, when a marriage is declared void ab initio, the parties remain entitled to a division of family property and spousal support under the Family Law Act.
Launched in 1977, Canadian Lawyer delivers unbiased reporting and analysis of the legal landscape from coast to coast. Their Top 25 Most Influential in the justice system and legal profession in Canada is now in its 11th year and is always the magazine’s most-read and most-commented-on feature.
As founder of MacLean Family Law, with 7 offices across BC and in Calgary, Lorne MacLean, Q.C. has successfully protected clients’ rights since 1983 in the field of high net worth and complex family law disputes. He has dealt with issues such as spousal and child support, property division, child custody, guardianship and access, and marriage-like relationships, earning a reputation as a tough yet thoughtful advocate for his clients.
Lorne MacLean, Q.C. was winning counsel in the famous Supreme Court of Canada child custody case of Young v Young, counsel for Mr Leskun in the infamous Supreme Court of Canada spousal support case of Leskun v Leskun, and winning counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Lightle v Kotar.
Young v. Young remains the leading case on child custody in Canada and Leskun v. Leskun established key principles to be applied to spousal support decisions and when support can be reviewed. Read more about Lorne’s achievements.
