News

December 2012

We are very pleased to announce that Brent Olthuis has been honoured as a "Lexpert Rising Star: Leading Lawyers Under 40." These awards are presented annually to leading lawyers across Canada under the age of 40 who are considered rising stars in the Canadian legal community. Lexpert selects the finalists based on criteria including the candidates' legal talent, business acumen, major accomplishments, interpersonal skills and the views of their peers, and an advisory board votes on the winning candidates.

Bill Berardino, Ken McEwan and John Hunter have been recognized as three of Canada's Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers in the annual Lexpert survey published in December. Ken was recognized for Securities Litigation, Bill and Ken for Products Liability and all three for Corporate-Commercial Litigation. Bill, John and Ken were also recognized in the Globe & Mail's December Report on Business as three of Canada's Leading Litigation Lawyers.

Mark Oulton and John Hunter represented the Council of Forest Industries and the Alberta Forest Products Association in the Supreme Court of Canada to intervene in an appeal on the question whether asserted aboriginal rights could be asserted as a defence to an action by a forest company to remove a road blockade.

Ken McEwan has been elected as a member of the Western Canada Commercial Arbitration Society, an organization of leading commercial arbitrators.

November 2012

Ken McEwan, Greg Allen and Caily DiPuma have successfully opposed a certification application in a proposed class action over the purchase of development units in the Private Residences at Hotel Georgia: Lee v. Georgia Properties Partnership, 2012 BCSC 1484. The Court was not satisfied that there were multiple class members raising common issues. The effect of obtaining the dismissal of a certification application is that the class action cannot continue.

Our firm has been honoured with the Canadian National Pro Bono Law Firm Award for 2012. Claire Hunter attended the 4th National Pro Bono Conference in Montreal on November 1, 2012 to accept the award on behalf of the firm. The terms of the award are as follows:
 
"This award recognizes a Canadian law firm that has made an outstanding contribution to the provision of pro bono legal services. The awards committee will consider law firms that have made significant strides toward the establishment of policies and programs that encourage lawyers to volunteer to represent low-income individuals. The committee is particularly interested in firms that have demonstrated dedication to the development and delivery of legal services to low income recipients through a pro bono program or have contributed significant work toward developing innovative approaches to delivering volunteer legal services."

Brent Olthuis has published an article on waiver of tort in class actions in the Ontario Bar Association's Class Action Newsletter: "Meanwhile, On The West Coast" (2012) 2(2) Class Act. Read the article here.

Bill Berardino, Ken McEwan and John Hunter have been listed in Who's Who Legal Canada 2012 in the fields of commercial litigation (Bill and John) and Product Liability Defence (Ken and Bill).

October 2012

Emily Kirkpatrick has joined the firm after practising with Torys in Toronto for four years. Emily is a graduate of Queen's University and the University of Toronto Law School. In 2007-2008 she served as a judicial law clerk in the British Columbia Supreme Court. We are very pleased to have Emily join us to work on class action and commercial litigation matters.

Bill Berardino has received a Lexpert Zenith Award for "Leadership through Change". The award is designed to "honour lawyers who have been change agents for forty or more years, for their clients, firms, companies, departments, faculties, profession, colleagues and/or communities."

John Hunter gave a presentation to the International Bar Association's Annual Conference in Dublin on the topic, "Does Legal Education need to give a higher priority to teaching ethics and professional judgment?"

Claire Hunter and Caily DiPuma were counsel on an expedited appeal from orders made under the Hague Convention on Private International Law, Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in Johnson v. Jessel, 2012 BCCA 393

September 2012

We are pleased to welcome Heather Cochran, who has joined our firm after completing her articles with the Ministry of the Attorney General. Heather is a graduate of the University of Victoria and received her J.D. from the University of Toronto in 2010. Following her graduation, she clerked in the Supreme Court of Canada for Madame Justice Charron. Heather will be working in our general civil and commercial practice.

Martin Taylor has written an article in the current issue of The Advocate titled "The Return of the "Pilgrims": A Second Paisley Conference on the Law of Negligence" describing the conference this May in Paisley Scotland.

July 2012

Claire Hunter has been appointed by the Canadian Bar Association to the CBA's National Pro Bono Standing Committee for the 2012-2013 term.

John Hunter delivered the keynote address to the 5th International Legal Ethics Conference in Banff on the topic, "Recent Developments in the Regulation of Legal Ethics in Canada."

June 2012

Michael Stephens successfully defended the decision of the Law Society of British Columbia that the current Minister of Justice of British Columbia, who is not a member of the Law Society, was not impermissibly practising law: Askin v. Law Society of British Columbia, 2012 BCSC 895.

The 2012 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory has been published and counsel from our firm are again well represented in the listing of leading practitioners in British Columbia. Randy Kaardal is identified as consistently recommended in both the Labour and Employment categories, the only British Columbia practitioner to receive that recognition Ken McEwan, John Hunter and Bill Berardino are listed as leading practitioners in Corporate-Commercial Litigation. Ken and Bill are also recognized in the fields of Class Action Litigation, Securities Litigation and Products Liability Litigatio John is again recommended in Forestry Law and Aboriginal Litigation, and Bill is also recognized in the fields of Directors and Officers Liability and Professional Liability.

May 2012

Martin Taylor once again led a delegation of tort law enthusiasts to Paisley Scotland to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the notorious "snail in the bottle" case, Donoghue v Stevenson, often called the most famous case in Anglo-Canadian law. A renowned Donoghue scholar, Martin had led the first "pilgrimage to Paisley" 23 years ago, and was invited back as a featured speaker by the University of the West of Scotland, who organized this year's conference. A highlight was the parade along the streets of Paisley to the site of the Wellmeadow Café, where the infamous gastropod first appeared (or so it was alleged...). The parade
is shown, with Martin guiding the pipers.

April 2012

The Canadian Lawyer magazine has published its list of the Top 10 Litigation Boutiques in Canada. Half the firms were based in Toronto, with the other five spread throughout the country. Hunter Litigation Chambers is the only British Columbia firm identified in the Canadian Lawyer list.

Mark Oulton and John Hunter successfully defended a multi-million dollar arbitration award against the Provincial Government in British Columbia (Ministry of Forests) v Teal Cedar Products Ltd., 2012 BCSC 543

In early April, John Hunter testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce on Review of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (S.C. 2000, c. 17) to express the concerns of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada relating to the Act's potential application to the legal profession.

March 2012

Ken McEwan and Claire Hunter were counsel in an appeal from the refusal of a Supreme Court judge to grant leave to appeal from an arbitration award: VIH Aviation Group Ltd. v. CHC Helicopter LLC, 2012 BCCA 125

Ken McEwan has been elected a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. The College is an organization of trial counsel in the United States and Canada for which fellowship is by invitation only. Its mission is "to improve and elevate the standards of trial practice, the administration of justice and the ethics of the profession." Fellowship in the College is widely considered the most distinguished accolade trial counsel in North America can receive.

Michael Stephens and Gib van Ert have succeeded in an appeal from a judgment they obtained at trial concerning a dispute over a property line in Delta. The central issue was whether the traditional surveyor's hierarchy of evidence was displaced by section 23 of the Land Title Act. The Court of Appeal upheld the award of compensatory damages against the defendant for tearing down a fence that had long marked the boundary line between the properties. The appeal is reported as Phillips v. Keefe 2012 BCCA 123.

Another third party directory has published its list of leading litigation firms and Hunter Litigation Chambers is again recognized in the top tier of litigation firms in British Columbia. Benchmark Canada, describing itself as "The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys", identifies Michael Stephens, Randy Kaardal, Ken McEwan, John Hunter and Bill Berardino as "Local Litigation Stars" and Brent Olthuis as one of BC's "Future Stars".

February 2012

We are very pleased to announce that Brent Johnston and Brent Olthuis have accepted our invitation to become Counsel with the firm, effective March 1. They will join Bill Berardino, John Hunter, Ken McEwan, Randy Kaardal, Michael Stephens and Mark Oulton in that capacity with the firm. Congratulations to both!

January 2012

Once again Hunter Litigation Chambers is in the centre of the bull's eye as the leading British Columbia litigation firm identified in the Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada for 2012. John Hunter and Ken McEwan are recognized as leading lawyers in Corporate-Commercial Litigation and Bill Berardino was identified as a leading lawyer in Directors and Officers Liability.