In every case, I'm dedicated to securing the best outcome for my clients, whether it's fair compensation in medical malpractice, disability benefits, or negotiating personal injury settlements.
About Michael A.A. Shepherd
Michael A.A. Shepherd helps people facing serious medical and financial challenges understand their legal options. His practice focuses on medical malpractice, disability insurance disputes and motor vehicle accidents. He emphasizes clear, direct communication so clients can make informed decisions during difficult and often unfamiliar circumstances.
Michael approaches each matter with careful preparation and attention to the individual circumstances behind a claim. His litigation experience includes significant Alberta medical malpractice decisions, while his published articles and podcast discussions reflect a commitment to making complex legal issues more accessible.
Medical Malpractice and Patient Rights
Medical malpractice claims can raise difficult questions about standards of care, informed consent, diagnosis, causation and the long-term consequences of an injury. Michael has been involved in litigation addressing these issues, including Khaleel v. Indar, 2023 ABKB 547 and Barbe v. Evans, 2020 ABQB 599. Weir Bowen’s case summaries explain the legal questions and outcomes in greater detail.
Michael also contributes practical legal education on particular forms of medical negligence. In Medical Negligence: Cancer Claims, he examines concerns that can arise around delayed diagnosis, screening and referral. His article Medical Negligence: Cardiovascular Claims explores issues involving cardiovascular diagnosis and treatment. These resources help readers understand why medical records, expert evidence and the facts of each case matter.
Disability Insurance and Denied Benefits
For someone unable to work because of illness or injury, a denied or interrupted disability benefit can create immediate financial uncertainty. Michael assists clients navigating disability insurance disputes and the evidence, policy terms and procedural decisions that may affect their claims.
His articles Overcoming the Challenges of Disability Insurance Claims and Understanding Disability Insurance: Your Financial Lifeline in Times of Need explain common challenges and the importance of understanding available coverage. For readers interested in the litigation issues behind these disputes, LTD Benefits Claims, Part Two: Can the Court Award a Lump Sum for Future LTD Benefits? provides a more technical discussion.
Professional Education and Legal Leadership
Michael also shares his experience with fellow legal professionals. In 2021, he presented a disability insurance webinar for the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association (ACTLA). The educational materials included a review of case law concerning long-term disability benefit claims, co-authored by Luke L. Young, and a presentation titled Disability Insurance Lawsuits 101. This work reflects his engagement with the legal issues that arise when disability benefits are disputed.
Helping Clients Understand Their Options
Michael believes that effective legal representation includes explaining the process, not simply managing it. His article Time Limits to Sue introduces an important consideration for anyone thinking about a potential legal claim. Because limitation rules depend on the circumstances and can change, readers should seek advice about their own situation.
He has also taken part in Weir Bowen’s Ask the Lawyer podcast, discussing disability benefits, insurance claim denials and the intersection of employment and disability issues. His episode Securing Your Rights: Legal Insights on Disability Benefits offers another way for clients to hear legal questions explained in straightforward language.
Beyond the Practice
Michael is motivated by the opportunity to make a meaningful difference for people facing significant challenges. Outside his legal practice, he enjoys disc golf, travel, and furniture design and restoration.
Education
2007 – Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) – University of British Columbia, Okanagan
2014 – Juris Doctor – University of Alberta
Bar Admission
2015 – Law Society of Alberta
2026 — Law Society of Saskatchewan
Professional Associations
Edmonton Bar Association
Canadian Bar Association
CBA Health Law section
Community Involvment
Member, CBA Junior Lawyers’ Section (North)
Member, CBA Civil Litigation Section (North)
Founder and Former President, Sports and Entertainment Law Society (University of Alberta)
Volunteer, MS Society of Canada
Expertise
Medical Malpractice
Do you have a potential claim for medical malpractice or product liability? We have an efficient and effective in-house team of lawyers who regularly assess malpractice claims and act for plaintiffs in the pursuit of settlements.
Personal Injury
Weir Bowen can investigate claims on your behalf and represent you in personal injury cases, including motor vehicle accidents, wrongful death, slip & falls, occupier’s liability, commercial host liability, product liability, subrogated claims, and disability claims.
Disability Claims
At Weir Bowen LLP, our lawyers have extensive experience helping guide disabled clients through the complexities of internal appeals of their denial, disability lawsuits, and obtaining other sources of disability income.
INDIGENOUS LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The lands on which Edmonton sits and the North Saskatchewan River that runs through it have been the sites of natural abundance, ceremony and culture, travel and rest, relationship building, making, and trading for Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. Edmonton is located within Treaty 6 Territory and within the Metis homelands and Metis Nation of Alberta Region 4. We acknowledge this land as the traditional territories of many First Nations such as the Nehiyaw (Cree), Denesuline (Dene), Nakota Sioux (Stoney), Anishinaabe (Saulteaux) and Niitsitapi (Blackfoot).
Weir Bowen acknowledges the many First Nations, Métis and Inuit who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations. We are grateful for the traditional Knowledge Keepers and Elders who are still with us today and those who have gone before us. We make this acknowledgement as an act of reconciliation and gratitude to those whose territory we reside on or are visiting.