DEREK BRINDLE, QC
 

Direct line: 604 895 3160
dbrindle@jml.ca

 Derek Brindle, QC is experienced counsel in litigation, arbitration and in alternate dispute resolution involving commercial claims and complex construction and engineering disputes. He regularly represents owners, construction participants, design professionals and insurers in construction law matters, and has appeared at levels of the Courts in British Columbia and in the Supreme Court of Canada. Derek advises Crown institutions and industry on risk mitigation strategies in major procurement. He has a diversified commercial and insurance law practice and has acted as counsel in a wide range of disputes involving class actions, claims for defective design and construction, unanticipated subsurface conditions, building envelope failures, delay/impact claims, claims involving errors and omissions and comprehensive general liability insurance policies, and in insurance “bad faith” claims. He has a background in criminal and personal injury law. Derek is rated by LEXPERT as one of British Columbia’s “Consistently Recommended” lawyers in the area of construction law. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2001.

Education and Bar Admission

  • BA (Cum Distinctione): University of Alberta, 1971
  • LL.B.: University of British Columbia, 1974
  • Admitted to British Columbia Bar, 1974

Professional Activities

  • UBC Law School Adjunct Professor, Construction Law, 2002 – 2004
  • Fellow, Canadian College of Construction Lawyers, 2002 –
  • UBC Law School Sessional Lecturer, Construction Law, 1994 – 2001
  • Co-Editor, British Columbia Builders Lien Practical Manual, 1999 – present
  • Co-Chair Continuing Legal Educational Program - Construction Law, 2002 –
  • Ad hoc Bencher, Law Society of British Columbia, 1994 – 1996

For appearances in the Supreme Court of Canada and in the British Columbia Courts, see decided cases in Canadian Legal Information Institute website at www. canlii.ca.

In addition to counsel work, Derek writes and lectures extensively on legal issues of interest to the construction industry, architects, engineers, the legal profession and the insurance industry. He has written and presented on a wide variety of topics, including construction claims and risk avoidance, building envelope failures, builders liens, the liability of design professionals, procurement law, and insurance “bad faith” claims.

Chair and speaker at numerous conferences for: Continuing Legal Education Society, Canadian Bar Association, Canadian Institute, Insight, Infonex, Project Management Institute, Pacific Business and Law Institute, Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, York Communications, Public Construction Council of BC and Union of BC Municipalities

Professional Memberships

  • Chair, British Columbia Hospital Appeal Board, 2005 –
  • Member, British Columbia Hospital Appeal Board, 2004
  • Member, Canadian Bar Association, Construction Law Section, 1988 –
  • Chair (Ad hoc bencher), Law Society of BC Proceeds of Crime Committee, 1994 – 96
  • Director, CBA (BC) Benevolent Society, 2000 –
  • Member, BC Trial Lawyers Association
  • Past member, American Trial Lawyers Association
  • Member, International Association of Defence Counsel, 2001 –
  • Member, Canadian Defence Lawyers, 2001 –
  • Member, Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, 1994 – 2003
  • Member, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy (Beijing- Planning Committee, 1998)
  • Director, Society for the Study of Enterprise Crime in the Pacific Rim, 1999 – 2001
  • Past member, Urban Development Institute

Publications

  • Co-Editor, British Columbia Builders Lien Practice Manual, CLE, 1999 –
  • "Pure Economic Loss, Revisited", 48 C.L.R. 278
  • "The Law of Tenders", 50 C.L.R. 245
  • "Tenders and the Owner 's Liability to Subcontractors Recent Developments", 37 C.L.R. (2d) 14
  • “Hybrid Procurement and the Duty of Good Faith", 25 CLR (3d) 30
  • "Limitation of Liability Clauses: Do They Protect You?" (Brindle and Wallace) Geotechnical News Vol. 22, 2004
  • “Building Envelope Failures - Litigation and Insurance Industry Responses", The Verdict (2004) Vol. 103
  • "The Primacy of Judicial Ordering", Construction Law Letter, 2004
  • "Solicitor-Client Confidentiality and the Implications of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Act and Regulations", The Advocate, 1994
  • "Building Envelope Failures: Industry Impact", Pacific Business and Law Institute, 2003
  • "Tendering, Negotiation and Everything In Between", CLE Construction Law Conference, 2002
  • "Tendering Law and Practice", Construction in British Columbia, 2001
  • "Priority of Secured Lenders", Pacific Business and Law Institute, Builders Lien, 2000
  • "Procurement and the Duty of Good Faith", Pacific Business and Law Institute, Construction Tendering, 2003
  • "The Enforceability of Bid Bonds", Pacific Business and Law Institute, Construction Bonding, 2000
  • "Building Envelope Failures and the Class Proceedings Act", (Brindle and Epstein) CLE, 2001
  • "Bidding and Tendering" Construction Law Primer's Conference, 2001
  • "Construction, Tendering and Procurement", York Communications, Calgary, 2003
  • "Bad Faith Claims: Pre-Trial Discovery, Privilege and Bifurcation", Canadian Defence Lawyers, Toronto, 2003
  • "Procurement Law Update": CLE Construction Law, 2003
  • "Builders Lien Act, the Trust", CLE Builders Liens, 2002
  • “The Constructive Trust - Case Comment", Canadian International Lawyer, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1999
  • "Regulations of Professionals and Disciplinary Hearings", Case Study (Brindle and Whittow), Infonex, 1997
  • "The Auditor's Role in the Reporting of Illegal Acts", Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, 8th Annual International Conference - Hong Kong, 1994
  • "Legal Pitfalls of Standard Practice", The Canadian Architect, 1998
  • "Solicitor-Client Confidentiality", CLE Proceeds of Crime, 1993
  • "Directors and Officers Liability for Regulatory and Criminal Offences", CLE Directors and Officers Liability, 1996
  • "Mistake, Misrepresentation, Non-Disclosure and Modern Contract Law", CLE Contract Law, 1995
  • "Investigating Parameters and Procedural Rights, Regulation of Professionals and Disciplinary Proceedings", Infonex, 1995
  • "Priorities Under the Builders Lien Act", CLE Construction Law, 1997; 1998
  • "Proceeds of Crime: Practice Issues", CLE Loss Prevention, 1996
  • "The Trust", CLE Builders Liens, 1999
  • "Liability for Economic Loss and Risk Management", BC Project Management Institute, 1993
  • "Builders Liens and the Secured Creditor", The Canadian Institute, 1991
  • "Changes in the Work and Covering Yourself with Effective Contractual Provisions and Procedures", Canadian Institute, 1992, 1996
A full list of publications is available upon request.

Personal

Derek’s hobbies include motorcycling, music, jogging and scuba-diving.

  
     
 
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