Full Profile
His clients are contractors, consultants and owners, private, public and institutional.
No lawyer wins every time, but Jim tries to give his clients a realistic assessment of their prospects at every stage of the dispute, with emphasis on the cost of getting there. Jim’s cases have included multimillion dollar cases like BC Place as well as homeowner disputes, many involving tendering, builders liens, extra work, deficiencies, delay and impact claims, fees claims as well as allegations of defective design, construction and inspection services. Jim has acted as a mediator and an arbitrator in construction disputes and as counsel in both.
Many of his cases have aligned with his engineering career in foundation investigation, design and construction, concrete and earth fill dams, highways, bridges, transit systems and others.
Some project assignments included the La Grande Hydro-electric project in Quebec, Toronto’s subway, BC’s Quintette Coal, Vancouver’s Skytrain, Science World and BC Hydro’s Site “C”. He has worked in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta and Alaska.
Jim lectures to UBC engineering students and to industry groups on construction law and the engineering profession, including lectures on builders liens for the Continuing Legal Education Society of BC. He is a past chair of the Construction Law section of the Canadian Bar Association – BC Branch.
Jim is a co-author of CLE’s British Columbia Liens Practice Manual and the past editor of Skylines, the Canadian Bar Association’s Construction Law magazine. He is a member if the BC Law Institute's Builders Lien Act Reform Project Committee, which recently released it's Report on the Builders Lien Act.
Education
- LLB, University of British Columbia (1990)
- P.Eng., British Columbia (1981)
- BSc, (Civil Engineering), Queens University (1978)
Bar Admission
Speaking Engagements
- Presenter in field of construction, tendering and builders liens in various BC continuing legal education
- Lecturer in various law related courses in the civil engineering faculty at the University of British Columbia
- Presenter in various construction industry groups.
