New partners, new faces

It was an auspicious start to the New Year as Alana Dale-Johnson and Veronica Rossos joined the SU partnership January 1. Each brings 10+ years of valuable legal experience, effective leadership skills and demonstrated business acumen. Alana focuses on Business Law, Estate Planning and Administration while Veronica concentrates on Workplace Law (including Labour Law), Commercial Litigation and Privacy Law. Congratulations!

Continuing with the momentum, SU welcomes Helmut Johannsen as Associate Counsel. Helmut draws on his extensive background both as a construction lawyer and as a Registered Professional Engineer to focus on construction, engineering, procurement and infrastructure. His diverse domestic and international practice includes strategic advice; risk mitigation; advising on project delivery systems; and all aspects of contract law. He is also a Chartered Arbitrator (ADR Institute of Canada) and Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and has acted as both counsel and arbitrator on numerous arbitrations involving construction, engineering, procurement and technical matters. Helmut may be contacted at hjohannsen@singleton.com.

SU news beyond the office

John Singleton, Q.C. has been busy as a guest speaker recently. His engagements have included speaking at the Affinity Institute’s conference on Construction Claims on the topic “The Importance of Design”; addressing the topic “Risks Associated with Design and Field Services” for the architects at DIALOG; and addressing “Pre-Contract Award Due Diligence” at the Canadian Institute’s annual event, Managing Risks in Construction Contracts. With the assistance of Claire Immega, John also spoke on the risks associated with new materials and building technologies at the Buildex Conference in Vancouver. In April he will speak at an insurance risk management conference and, in June, at the Pacific Business Law Institute’s conference on The Construction Industry: Major Projects.

Congratulations to Veronica Rossos, who was recently named by Lexpert in the “Lawyers to Watch” category. She was also a finalist in the Lexpert 2015 Rising Stars “Leading Lawyers Under 40” Awards.

Sporting notes

An avid rower, SU Associate Betsy Segal was elected as the Vancouver Rowing Club’s 1st Vice President on the Executive of the Board of Directors. Betsy was previously 2nd Vice President.

The SU Ski Team got in some early spring skiing at Whistler at the annual BC Law Firm Ski Race Championships. As well, SU was excited to be a corporate sponsor of the 2016 Karate Canada National Championships, attended by hundreds of athletes in Richmond, B.C.