Areas of Practice

Commercial Litigation

Sometimes business relationships do not work out. A business partner you trust takes more than their fair share or claims you deserve less than your fair share. Sometimes a supplier claims that you owe more than you do or a client refuses to pay for your hard work. Our lawyers are experienced commercial litigators who find creative and efficient solutions to the problems you encounter in the course of your business.
 

Real Estate Litigation

For most people, buying a house is the most important investment they will make in their life. When this goes wrong, our lawyers regularly advise buyers, sellers, realtors and developers on a variety of legal issues that arise when people buy, sell or develop land.

We have been counsel on several leading real estate law decisions, including pivotal decisions describing a developer’s duties pursuant to the Real Estate Development Marketing Act and recent decisions determining when a developer can amend a filed strata plan and the damages a defaulting buyer must pay to a seller.

The Continuing Legal Education Society and the Canadian Bar Association sections regularly ask our lawyers to speak to real estate lawyers on a variety of topics. Our lawyers regularly advise realtors and conveyancing lawyers who have encountered an emerging legal problem and will represent realtors before the Real Estate Board and the BC Financial Services Authority.

 

Shareholder/Partnership Disputes

Disputes between shareholders or partners are often contentious, with each side taking credit for the “good” decisions and blaming the other for the “bad” decisions. 

Our lawyers have a wealth of experience, skills and sensitivity in navigating the complicated law and bitter emotions necessary to resolve disputes between shareholders and partners. Our lawyers are so well-respected they are often hired by law firms who are in the midst of a dispute among their partners.
 

Appeals

Sometimes the trial courts make a mistake. Sometimes a party does not like discovering that their firmly held beliefs are not shared by the trial judge.

Our lawyers are experienced appellate counsel who regularly appear in the BC Court of Appeal, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Although winning an appeal is never an easy undertaking, we have an established track record of success in a diverse array of subject areas, including appeals involving contract law, real estate and intellectual property.
 

Debt Collection

Life comes at you fast and you may end up owing or being owed a great deal of money. These are very stressful and disruptive times for our clients and we are experienced and adept at resolving these disputes.

Our lawyers are often engaged to collect debts for our clients in personal or commercial circumstances. We favour an assertive and creative approach and have successfully executed on all sorts of assets for our clients - even a minor league baseball team!

Sometimes our clients are indebted and require skilled help to negotiate a settlement of the debts they owe. We bring the same tenacity in representing our clients who owe money so that you can move forward debt free.

Often relationships between debtors and creditors need to be preserved and a scorched earth approach will do more harm than good. We first approach resolution in a manner that is sensitive to the existing relationship so that all parties can continue to associate with each other productively to the greatest extent possible once the debt or dispute is resolved.
 

Legal Fee Disputes

Legal services can be expensive.  Although the death of the billable hour has been anticipated for many years, most lawyers continue to charge in six-minute increments, which results in a fair and reasonable fee only by accident.  The law governing contracts for legal services, and the bills that flow from them, is specialized and poorly understood by most members of the public and the profession.

Our lawyers routinely act in disputes arising from the lawyer-client relationship.  We have the knowledge and experience to help both clients and lawyers navigate the unique procedures imposed by the Legal Profession Act, whether in a traditional fee review or an examination of the fairness of a retainer agreement.  Our lawyers also assist clients who believe their former lawyer has been negligent or otherwise failed to meet the elevated standards imposed on them.

Franchise Advice and Litigation

Franchising your business can be a good way of expanding it.  Buying a franchise can reduce the risk of operating your own business.  Our lawyers regularly provide advice to both franchisors and franchisees, and if the relationship between franchisor and franchisee breaks down, our lawyers have achieved some of the most important franchise law decisions in BC and have successfully represented some of Canada’s best known franchisors.

Mediation & Arbitration

Although our lawyers are among the most experienced trial lawyers in Vancouver, some of our clients prefer to resolve their problems through mediation (a consensual non-binding negotiation process) or arbitration (a binding process that can be more efficient than traditional litigation through the court) - we are very experienced and successful in both processes.

We will not hesitate to recommend mediation or arbitration when we determine that our clients will benefit from an alternative dispute resolution method. One of the reasons we have a high degree of success in resolving disputes is our ability to develop creative solutions to overcome the challenges faced by our clients. Litigation through the courts is only one of several methods we consider when working with you.

Our lawyers have participated in more than a thousand mediations and numerous arbitrations. Andrew Morrison has accepted an appointment as an arbitrator and is regularly chosen by other lawyers to act as a mediator in disputes between their clients.
 

Estate Litigation

There are few experiences in life more stressful than grieving the death of a loved one. Regrettably, the stress of the grieving process may be compounded by disputes between family members. These disputes are especially common in British Columbia where adult children of deceased parents may challenge the distribution of the estate.

Our lawyers regularly act in wills variation and other estate matters. We are equally comfortable seeking to preserve and defend the wishes of testators as we are fighting for the rights of the disinherited.
 

Local Government Disputes

It is often said “you cannot fight City Hall”, but sometimes the decisions of a municipality can have a dramatic, unwanted effect on your life, liberty or property - particularly when the decisions concern the zoning and development of land.

Our lawyers are well versed on the judicial review of government decisions. We have appeared in court on numerous occasions to successfully advocate for the rights of municipal taxpayers, corporations and individuals whose rights were harmed by their local government. We can help devise and execute the right strategy to protect you and your property from unjust municipal actions.