Joe has been recognized as a leading “Under 40” litigator by Benchmark Litigation Canada and for his outstanding professional excellence in Corporate and Commercial Litigation by Best Lawyers in Canada.

Joe’s practice focuses on business disputes. He regularly acts for corporations (both public and closely held private companies), and their directors, officers, and shareholders.  His experience includes contract disputes, professional negligence claims, injunctions, real estate disputes, corporate governance matters, shareholder oppression claims, defamation claims, and securities litigation.

In addition to his commercial practice Joe acts for Indigenous governments and individuals in litigious matters.  He has appeared as counsel in judicial review proceedings arising from Chief and Council governance disputes as well as contested elections.

Joe has appeared as counsel before all levels of Court in British Columbia, the Federal Court, and the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench.  He has represented clients before administrative tribunals and regulators including the BC and Ontario Securities Commissions.  Joe has also navigated numerous alternative dispute resolution proceedings including private arbitrations and mediations.

Known for his strategic thinking and attention to detail, Joe approaches dispute resolution through a commercial lens. He understands his clients’ business objectives and how best to achieve them. Whether the path is a negotiated resolution or a hard-fought trial, Joe has the technical skills and experience to successfully navigate any dispute.

Prior to co-founding our firm, Joe practiced at the Vancouver office of a leading national firm and two top boutiques.

*Law Corporation

Legal Assistant:
Helen Nicol
hnicol@peslitigation.com
(778) 727-3505

 

Education

  • University of Toronto (J.D. 2012)
  • University of British Columbia (B.A. 2009)

Bar Admission

  • Ontario, 2013
  • British Columbia, 2013
  • Counsel for Lhoosk’uz Dene Nation and its councillors in a judicial review proceeding challenging the suspension of the Nation’s Chief from office (including the successful dismissal of an interlocutory injunction motion).
  • Counsel for Thunderstruck Resources Ltd. and related parties in a complex dispute arising from the breakdown in the relationship between Thunderstruck, a mineral exploration company operating in Fiji, and Bonga Xploration Drilling Supplies Ltd., a drilling contractor. The claim and counterclaim involve claims based on breach of contract, unjust enrichment, conversion and defamation. Prior to the BC action being commenced, Bonga had commenced related proceedings in Fiji, and then applied to stay or dismiss the BC action on jurisdictional grounds.  Thunderstruck was successful in having the application dismissed.
  • Counsel for Fancamp Exploration Ltd. in the successful dismissal of a Petition brought by dissident shareholders in a proxy contest. The dissidents’ Petition sought, among other things, to impose an independent chairperson as well as an early AGM date.
  • Counsel for the Electoral Officer in a contested byelection for the role of the Chief of the for the Ts’il Kaz Koh Burns Lake First Nation in proceedings brought before the Federal Court pursuant to the First Nations Elections Act.
  • Counsel for the developer One West Holdings Ltd. in the successful prosecution of a 34-day trial to recover a commercial parking area unlawfully seized by a strata corporation. The case makes new law on two points: developers do not owe fiduciary duties to condo purchasers; and a legal structure used in BC to allocate tens of thousands of parking stalls is valid and binding.
  • Counsel for Alternative Earth Resources Inc. in the successful appeal of two judgments which had found that the company and its directors had oppressed a minority shareholder, Jaguar Financial Corporation, by pursuing the acquisition of a private company called Black Sea Copper & Gold and by defending a proxy contest launched by Jaguar, who sought to take control of the company. The appeal decision preserved the present management of the company and is now a leading BC authority on the disclosable interests of directors and the oppression remedy.
  • Counsel for Concord Pacific Acquisitions Inc. in the successful defense of a five-day summary trial application brought by the owner of the Plaza of Nations land, who sought dismissal of CPAI’s claim for damages (estimated to be in excess of $100 million) arising from an alleged breach of a contract to jointly develop the Plaza of Nations land in Vancouver.
  • Counsel for 1397225 Ontario Limited, a company controlled by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, in the recovery of unpaid principal, interest and legal costs from the guarantors of a $2.6 million mortgage loan.
  • Counsel for a mineral testing and analysis laboratory in the successful resolution of a complex negligent design dispute with the design-build contractor for its state-of-the-art laboratory in British Columbia.
  • Counsel for a real estate investor in a confidential arbitration proceeding to resolve a partnership dispute regarding the operation of a commercial office building in British Columbia.
  • CBA-BC Civil Litigation Webinar, Duty of Honest Performance in Contracts (May 19, 2021).
  • Counsel Comment, Jaguar Financial Corporation v. Alternative Earth Resources Inc., 2016 BCCA 193 (June 2016, Take Five British Columbia Edition)
  • Counsel Comment, Barafield Realty Ltd. v. Just Energy (B.C.) Limited Partnership, 2015 BCCA 421 (November 2015, Take Five British Columbia Edition)
  • Member, Canadian Bar Association
  • Member, Vancouver Bar Association
  • Member, The Advocates’ Society
  • Benchmark Litigation Canada, 40 & Under Litigator Canada
  • Benchmark Litigation Canada, Future Star 2023
  • Best Lawyers Ones to Watch – Corporate and Commercial Litigation, 2024