Our principal areas of litigation practice include:

• Aboriginal
• Administrative
• Charter & Constitutional
• Civil Litigation
• Class Actions
• Environmental
• Human Rights
• Labour & Employment
• Privacy & Access
• Wills, Estates & Estate Litigation

We provide advice and representation on a number of issues, including aboriginal rights and title claims, treaty entitlements, the duty to consult and band governance. We currently represent a Manitoba First Nation in their breach of fiduciary claim against the federal government with respect to the flooding of reserve lands in the 1960s, and are currently representing the Neskonlith Indian Band in the Court of Appeal in their important case seeking to establish a duty to consult on the part of local government when exercising delegated land use decision making authority.

We also assist corporate clients on matters involving First Nations consultation and accommodation.

We have been involved in a number of leading aboriginal cases, including R v. Kapp, Delgmamuukw v. British Columbia, Paul v. British Columbia (Forest Appeals Commission), Haida First Nation v. British Columbia, and Campbell v. British Columbia.

Our lawyers have acted as counsel for numerous tribunals and agencies, including the Environmental Appeal Board, the Forest Appeals Commission, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, the British Columbia Review Board, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and the former Expropriation Compensation Board. We have considerable expertise with respect to proceedings under the Judicial Review Procedure Act, having acted for a number of individuals and organizations in applications for judicial review. Some of the regulatory regimes with which we have experience include:

• B.C. Human Rights Code
• Community Care and Assisted Living Act
• Crime Victim Assistance Act
• Environmental Management Act
• Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
• Personal Information Protection Act
• Firearms Act
• Forest Act
• Health Professions Act
• Labour Relations Code
• Mines Act
• University Act
• Water Act
• Farm Industry Review Board
• BC Assessment
• Oil and Gas Commission

Mark Underhill has also acted as an Inquiry Officer under the Expropriation Act, and has been involved in several Utilities Commission proceedings.  Catherine Boies Parker has acted as an Adjudicator under both the Personal Information Protection Act  and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

We have been involved in proceedings involving a number of professional regulatory regimes, including representation of individuals in disciplinary matters. Those regimes include:

• Land Surveyors Act
• Foresters Act
• Dentists Act
• College of Applied Biology Act
• Chiropractors Act
• Optometrists Act
• Financial Institutions Act
• Teaching Profession Act

We also have significant experience in student government disputes.

Underhill, Boies Parker is counsel in a number of constitutional cases involving the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some recent cases of note are:

• representing the Canadian Federation of Students and British Columbia Teachers Federation in the Supreme Court of Canada in their constitutional challenge to the advertising policies of Translink and BC Transit as being contrary to the s. 2(b) right to freedom of expression (see Canadian Federation of Students v. Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (2006), 275 D.L.R. (4th) 221)
• representing the plaintiffs in the British Columbia Supreme Court and the British Columbia Court of Appeal in the constitutional challenge to the City of Victoria's bylaws restricting the right of homeless people, under s. 7 of the Charter.
• representing Adbusters Media Foundation in the British Columbia Court of Appeal in their claim that the refusal of private and public broadcasters to air advertisements on matters of public interest contravenes s. 2(b) of the Charter.
• representing the Hospital Employees' Union in their constitutional challenge to the definition of "strike" in the Labour Relations Code on the basis that it infringes the right to political expression under s. 2(b) of the Charter.
• representing an individual before the Pension Appeals Board in a challenge to pension provisions which distinguish between common law and legally married spouses, on the basis of the s. 15 equality guarantee of the Charter.
• representing the Canadian Civil Liberties Association in the British Columbia Court of Appeal in R. v. Breeden, a case involving the scope of freedom of expression on publically owned property
• representing the Federal Government Dockyards Trades and Labour Council (West) in their constitutional challenge to Bill C-10

< Back to top

We act in a wide variety of civil litigation matters for both plaintiffs and defendants. We have particular expertise in the following:

• Wills and estate litigation
• Defamation
• Fraud
• Wrongful Dismissal
• Breach of Confidence
• Non-competition Agreements
• Conspiracy
• Taxation

We also have experience in conflict of laws and jurisdictional disputes. We regularly handle referrals for appeals and conflicts, as well as agency work for out of province counsel. Client relationships are always respected.

< Back to top

Our lawyers have acted for both representative plaintiffs and defendants, including cases involving the "tainted blood" scandal, price fixing in respect of animal vitamins, charitable gaming fees, the closure of a pulp mill, log salvage fees, and survivor pension benefits.

We are presently co-counsel for the representative plaintiff in class actions pertaining to the revocation of pension benefits to provincial civil servants, and the marketing of cough medicine to children.  We have also acted for a corporate defendant in a class action involving allegations of price fixing with respect to air cargo fees.

We provide agency services for Ontario or Quebec lawyers seeking the assistance of local counsel in British Columbia class actions.

Underhill, Boies Parker represents individuals, groups and tribunals on a wide range of environmental issues. We currently act as counsel for both the Environmental Appeal Board and the Forest Appeals Commission. We have significant experience and expertise in contaminated sites issues, most recently acting for the Appellants in the British Columbia Court of Appeal in Gehring et al v. Chevron et al. We have represented numerous environmental groups, including the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association and the Denman Island Conservancy Association, on a variety of land use and regulatory issues. We recently acted as co-counsel for a group of Tsawwassen residents challenging new power lines being constructed in their community, including representation before both the Utilities Commission and the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

Mark Underhill was recently selected by his peers to be included in the 2012 edition of Best Lawyers in Canada in specialty of Environmental Law, representing the 4th consecutive year he has received that recognition.

Underhill, Boies Parker acts for individuals, groups and organization on a wide range of human rights matters, including:

• Workplace discrimination and accommodation issues
• Discriminatory publications and "hate speech" provisions in human rights codes

We have appeared before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and act as counsel for the Canadian Human Rights Commission.   We have also appeared on behalf of individuals and groups on judicial reviews of tribunal decisions in both the British Columbia Supreme Court and the Federal Court of Canada.

Underhill, Boies Parker acts on behalf of unions both in relation to individual grievances and in broader constitutional claims. We acted as co-counsel on the challenge brought by public sector unions to Bill 29, which resulted in the Supreme Court of Canada recognizing collective bargaining as a constitutionally protected right under section 2(d) of the Charter. We have also acted for the Federal Government Dockyards Trades and Labour Council (West) in their constitutional challenge to Bill C-10, and for the Hospital Employee's Union in a case involving the right to engage in political protests. 

We act for both individuals and companies on non-union employment matters, including providing advice on the following:

• Wrongful and Constructive Dismissal
• Severance Entitlements
• Disability and Benefit plans
• Employment Standards Act
• Workplace Privacy
• Human Rights and Accommodation

We act as counsel to individuals and groups on privacy and access issues, and provide advice on the following legislative schemes:

• B.C. Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act ("FOIPPA")
• B.C. Personal Information and Privacy Act ("PIPA")
• The federal Personal Information and Protection and Electronic Documents Act ("PIPEDA")
• The federal Privacy Act
• The federal Access to Information Act

We have expertise on the following:

• Workplace Privacy Standards
• The Development of Privacy Policies
• Exceptions to Disclosure Requirements
• Responding to Privacy Breaches
• Initiating and Responding to an Access Request
• Initiating and Responding to a Privacy Complaint

We can assist you in the preparation of up-to-date Wills, Powers of Attorney, and Representation Agreements for health care decisions. If you have been named as the executor or administrator of an estate, we can provide you with advice and assist you in the process of probating the estate. If you have a concern regarding a Will, we are also experienced in the area of estate litigation.

Our Lawyers