Direct Telephone: (604) 688-6737
Email: fschroeder@schroeder.bc.ca

Drew was called to the Bar in British Columbia in 1977 and in the Yukon Territory in 1987. Drew was Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia Law School from 1973 to 1976. He then joined the firm of Laxton Pidgeon & Company in 1977, and was a partner there until 1986. He founded Schroeder & Company in 1986, and co-founded Schroeder Speier in 2007.

Historically, Drew's Practice has been a 50/50 mix of labour law and civil litigation. Over the years, Drew has acted for a large number of unions and represented many individuals with WCB claims. He has always maintained an administrative law practice, and has been counsel in numerous judicial review proceedings. Drew has argued significant constitutional cases before the Supreme Court of Canada, the British Columbia Court of Appeal and the Federal Court of Appeal in the areas of freedom of expression, age discrimination and religious freedom.

Drew maintains an active civil litigation practice. He acts for plaintiffs in the areas of personal injury, defamation, professional negligence, wrongful dismissal and insurance disputes. Drew has achieved significant damages awards and settlements for severely injured clients, including on eof the largest known after-tax settlements for a brain-injured client in Canada.

Drew studied law at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He earned his LLB in 1972 and his LLM in 1973. He also holds a BA (Hons.) in political science from the University of Victoria.

Some of Drew's notable cases include:

• R.W.D.S.U. v. Dolphin Delivery Ltd.,[1986] 2 S.C.R. 573
  Drew appeared as counsel at the Supremem Court of Canada for the eappellant union in this case. The issue was whether secondary picketing in a labour dispute is protected as freedom of expression under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• Wainwright v. Vancouver Shipyards,[1987] B.C.J. No. 1169 (C.A.), leave to the Supremem Court of Canada denied.
  Drew acted as counsel for five men who were recruited from the East Coast of Canada and Europe to work at the Vancouver Shipyards. Not long after the men and their families moved to Vancouver, the West Coast shipbuilding industry collapsed. The employer refused to pay the men compensation or relocation expenses. Drew successfully argued at trial that the employer should pay the men significant compensation for breach of the employer's promise of secure employment. The employer's appeal of the trial decision was dismissed.
• Vorvis v. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, [1989] 1 S.C.R. 1085
  Drew appeared as counsel at the Supreme Court of Canada for Mr. Vorvis, a lawyer whose employment with ICBC was wrongfully terminated. The main issue in the case was whether aggravated or punitive damages were available to a plaintiff in an action for wrongful dismissal. The Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Vorvis became the country's leading case on the entitlement to punitive and aggravated damages in employment disputes.
• Harrison v. University of British Columbia, [1990] 3 S.C.R. 451
  Drew was counsel at the Supremem Court of Canada for Dr. Harrison, a surgeon and professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Harrison challenged the University's mandatory retirement policy under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Although the Supreme Court of Canada denied Dr. Harrison's constitutional claim, Dr. Harrison's case became the first stepping stone to the abolition of mandatory retirement in the public sector. The University of British Columbia abolished its mandatory retirement policy in 2007.