Arbitration

Commercial disputes are increasingly being resolved by consensual arbitration as an alternative to litigation. Counsel in the firm have considerable experience in the conduct of arbitrations and are frequently called upon to act on arbitration matters.

Ken McEwan Q.C., John Hunter Q.C. and Martin Taylor Q.C. have acted as counsel in many arbitration proceedings in the commercial area. In addition to his counsel work, Mr. McEwan is the co-author of Commercial Arbitration in Canada (Canada Law Book), the leading text on the subject and has also authored several papers on arbitration practice. Mr. McEwan has conducted arbitrations as chair of the panel as well as counsel.

Mr. Hunter has acted as arbitration counsel in several commercial matters and also as litigation counsel in cases arising out of arbitration proceedings, including the leading case on judicial review of arbitral decisions, Hayes Forest Services Limited v. Weyerhaeuser Company Limited, 2008 BCCA 31. As well as acting as arbitration counsel, Mr. Hunter is a Fellow of the London-based Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is frequently retained as arbitrator in commercial disputes.

Mr. Taylor has conducted several commercial arbitrations and mediations since retiring from the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

The firm’s labour and employment practice also includes significant recourse to arbitrations to resolve disputes. Randy Kaardal has considerable experience in this area and heads up the firm’s labour arbitration practice.