The Honourable Robert Jenkins, K.C.

Profile

Bob Jenkins was a founding partner of JML and has returned to the firm after having served as Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia for over 10 years. Upon returning to JML, Bob will be limiting his services to acting as a mediator, arbitrator, referee or other forms of third party dispute resolution with emphasis in the construction industry and other commercial disputes.

Prior to his appointment to the Court, Bob practiced extensively in the field of construction law which included acting as a Court appointed special referee, arbitrator and as a mediator on multiple occasions, often involving complex multi-party disputes arising from large commercial, infrastructure, transportation and resource projects. He was certified as a mediator and arbitrator by the American Arbitration Association and the Vancouver International Arbitration Centre, formerly known as the British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre. He was also a member of the Arbitration and Mediation Committee of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers in which he was a founding Fellow in 1998 and served several years on the Board.

In his practice prior to his appointment to the Court, Bob was successful counsel in many cases before the Courts of British Columbia and in arbitration including:

• Representing trade contractors in an action for negligent misrepresentation as to the availability of construction financing against a chartered bank in the Supreme Court of B.C., the Court of Appeal and in which leave to the Supreme Court of Canada was dismissed: Micron Construction v. Hongkong Bank of Canada.
• Acting for a large electrical contractor involved in a dispute with a large international airport over a contract involving runway lighting which involved claims of almost $3 million.
• Representing an international general contractor in a multi-party claim over the construction of a hydro electric facility which was settled after mediation and involved claims exceeding $30 million.
• Representing a major general contractor for payment of over $3 million in damages caused by delays, breach of contract and negligence on the part of the consultants in a design-build contract for the design and construction of a large professional sports arena.

Over many year of his legal practice, Bob coordinated and presented at multiple Continuing Legal Education of B.C. courses including the conduct of complex commercial litigation, arbitration and mediation. As well, he was a regular and prominent speaker on construction disputes for many construction associations including the Vancouver Regional Construction Association, the Independent Contractor and Businesses Association, the B.C. Roadbuilders and Heavy Contractors Association, the British Columbia Construction Association and other regional construction associations.

Finally, Bob is a past-president of National and British Columbia Construction Law Subsections.