Don Dear, K.C.

Profil complet

Don Dear, K.C.’s practice includes class actions, commercial litigation, construction, energy, insurance and professional liability. Through his diverse practice, Don is known to reach efficient resolution for each client by applying his in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of various industries.

With almost 35 years of experience under his belt, Don has built a diverse practice focusing on commercial litigation, insurance and professional liability defence, class actions and construction law. Don has also defended claims and provided coverage opinions with respect to upstream, midstream and downstream energy matters.

Throughout his career, Don has appeared at all levels of Alberta’s courts and has represented clients in a number of Canadian jurisdictions, including Ontario, Saskatchewan, Yukon, and British Columbia. Don has also appeared before various boards and administrative tribunals, such as the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta, and served as a counsel for interested parties in public fatality inquiries.

Don has participated in hundreds of mediations, judicial dispute resolutions and arbitrations, including ones under the International Commercial Arbitration and Conciliation Rules established by UNCITRAL. He has acted as counsel in over 40 King’s Bench trials and innumerable court applications.

With his extensive trial experience, Don offers his clients practical solutions that go beyond litigating files. As a skilled litigator, Don is steadfast and resolute in the courtroom, while having his clients’ best interest at heart.

Don holds an AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating on Martindale-Hubbell. He has also been recognized in Chambers Canada (Litigation - Product Liability, Litigation - General Commercial), in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (Litigation - Commercial Insurance, Litigation - Corporate Commercial, Litigation - Product Liability, Professional Liability); Lexpert Special Edition (Litigation - Commercial, Energy, Infrastructure); Legal 500 (Construction, Insurance); and Best Lawyers (Alternative Dispute Resolution, Corporate and Commercial Litigation, Defamation and Media Law, Insurance Law, Professional Malpractice Law).

 
Admissions

• Yukon Bar (1992)

• Alberta Bar (1989)
   

Education

• LL.B., University of Alberta (1988)

• Bishop’s University (1985)
   

Professional Associations

• Yukon Bar (1992)

• Alberta Bar (1989)

• Pro Bono Counsel, Law Society of Alberta – Volunteers as a Law Society of Alberta Pro Bono counsel, representing lawyers facing disciplinary proceedings before the Law Society

• Alumni, Calgary Exhibition and Stampede – Served on the Courtesy Car Committee of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede for ten years

Leadership

• Board Member, Clyde & Co Canadian Management Board
   

Awards

• Chambers Canada (Litigation - Product Liability, Litigation - General Commercial)

• Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (Litigation - Commercial Insurance, Litigation - Corporate Commercial, Litigation - Product Liability, Professional Liability)

• Lexpert Special Edition (Litigation - Commercial, Energy, Infrastructure)

• Legal 500 (Insurance)

• Best Lawyers (Alternative Dispute Resolution, Construction Law, Corporate and Commercial Litigation, Defamation and Media Law, Energy Law, Insurance Law, Professional Malpractice Law)

• Martindale-Hubbell (AV Preeminent Peer Rated Attorney - Very High Ethical Standard and an A grade)

Expérience

• Acting for a contact engineer in an $80 million claim for the construction of a coal mining distribution system in Northern Alberta. Our client is the contact engineer that designed the contact points in one of the coal towers that failed.

• Acted for a contractor which designed and installed a series of transmission lines across Alberta. The $40 million claim was in relation to the spacer-damper equipment which failed and began falling off the lines.

• Successfully defended a pipeline contractor in a $20 million claim that was heard by the Alberta Court of Appeal with respect to the failure of a pipeline liner which failed as a result of the infiltration of water between the liner and the steel pipe.

• Acted for an engineer who designed or at least put his stamp on drawings on a horse arena and barn outside of Calgary when the arena collapsed as a result of excess snow loading.

• Acting for a transportation company in a $17 million claim where the allegation is that the tank on the trailer being hauled contaminated dozens of kilometers of highway with hydrocarbon waste.

• Acted for an engineer in Whitehorse in relation to the construction of a Canada-wide fast-food outlet where the renovation of the public space resulted in a collapse of the entire ceiling system. The issue was the degree that the engineer could rely on the underlying construction structure. The matter was settled with a positive outcome to our client. 

• Acting for an engineer who designed the foundation of a residential construction project. The allegation is that the engineer failed to consider the effects of the lateral loads.

• Acted for a number of engineers with respect to complaints made to the regulator APEGA (Association of Professional Engineers and Geophysicists of Alberta) for their decision-making involvement in the response to the COVID pandemic and the use of HEPA filters in classrooms.

• Acting for a general contractor which constructed a water treatment plant in the Yukon. The issue is the effect of the design of the base of the subject water tanks.

• Represented the defendant in a negligence action for $20 million remediation costs after an oil spill from the pipeline. The defendants were involved in the construction of the pipeline in 2004. There was a leak from the pipeline in 2018 and the pipeline’s owner, the plaintiff, was claiming contribution to its statutory remedial obligations under the Environmental Protection and Enforcement Act (EPEA) (2022).
   

Publications

• "Land Developer Vindicated in Occupiers’ Liability Case," Best Lawyers, 2017