Professional Background
Derek Brindle, QC is experienced counsel in major 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 all levels of the Courts in British Columbia and in the Supreme Court of Canada. He acts as an arbitrator and in mediations involving construction and insurance disputes. Derek advises government institutions and industry on risk mitigation strategies in major procurement and procurement documentation.
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, building envelope failures, tender claims, delay/impact claims, claims involving errors and omissions and comprehensive general liability insurance policies, in insurance “bad faith” claims and administrative disciplinary actions. Derek has been listed in the Best Lawyers in Canada, since 2006. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2001. He is ranked preeminent (AV) by Martindale & Hubbell based on peer reviews.
In addition to counsel work, Derek writes and lectures on legal issues of interest to the construction industry, architects, engineers, the legal profession and the insurance industry.
Education
- BA (Cum Distinctione) University of Alberta, 1971
- LL.B. University of British Columbia, 1974
- Admitted to British Columbia Bar, 1975
- Appointed Queens Counsel, 2001
Memberships
- Governor and Vice President, Canadian College of Construction Lawyers, 2012 -
- Vice Chair of International Construction Law and Litigation International Association of Defence Counsel, 2012 -
- Chair, British Columbia Hospital Appeal Board, 2005 -
- Member, Canadian Bar Association, Construction Law Section, 1988 -
- Chair, 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, Defence Research Institute
- 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
Professional Highlights
- UBC Law School Adjunct Professor and Lecturer - Construction Law
- Co-Editor, British Columbia Builders Lien Practical Manual, C.L.E.
- Co-author, Land Use Disputes, Chapter, Injunctions Practice Manual, C.L.E.
- Co-Chair Continuing Legal Educational Program - Construction Law (various)
- Ad hoc Bencher, Law Society of British Columbia, 1994 - 1996
External Articles and Publications
- Pure Economic Loss Revisited 50 CLR 245
- Tenders and the Owner's Liability to Subcontractors: Recent Developments 37 CLR (2d) 14
- Hybrid Procurement and the Duty of Good Faith 25 CLR (3d) 30
- Owners' Claims Aganist Contractors - A Primer 70 CLR (3d) 7
- The Trust, BC Builders Liens Practice Manual, Chapter 3
- Consultants and the Builders Lien Act, P.B.L.I. 2012
- Trade Tenders and the General Contractor's Duty of Good Faith, Construction Law Letter, Vol.23, No.6
- Building Envelope Failures - Litigation and Insurance Industry Responses, The Verdict, No.103
- Architects' and Engineers' Professional Liability, The Verdict, No.115
- Tendering and the Primacy of Judicial Ordering, Construction Law Letter, Vol.20, No.4
- Land Use Disputes (Co-author) C.L.E. Injunctions Practice Manual Chapter