Olthuis van Ert

Head of chambers: Brent Olthuis KC

Number of partners: 2

Number of other fee earners: 9

Offices: Vancouver and Ottawa

Languages: English, French, Spanish, Urdu

Members:

Brent Olthuis KC (2001 ON; 2005 BC)

Gib van Ert (2004 BC; 2018 ON)

Donnaree Nygard (1994 BC)

Danny Urquhart (2016 ON; 2019 BC)

Jeff Hernaez (2016 ON; 2019 BC)

Neil Abraham (2017 ON; 2021 BC)

Fraser Harland (2018 ON; 2023 BC)

Dahlia Shuhaibar (2019 ON; 2021 BC)

Niles Bond (2019 BC)

Benjamin Reedijk (2020 BC)

Ramisha Farooq (2022 ON; 2023 BC)

Olthuis van Ert is a high-calibre litigation boutique specializing in a broad range of matters in commercial litigation and public law. Most of the firm's lawyers are former judicial clerks; five, including both principals, clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada. The principals are members of the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute, and in addition to their advocacy work for clients, each has also been cited by the SCC as an academic authority on points of substantive law.

Commercial litigation: Olthuis van Ert's lawyers represent clients in a wide range of complex commercial disputes, including corporate governance and shareholder disputes, as well as contract, fiduciary duty and fraud claims.

Public and regulatory law: Olthuis van Ert's clients include governmental bodies, professional regulators, charities, human rights claimants, and civil rights organizations. The firm routinely acts in cases raising constitutional issues, or other matters concerning the exercise of governmental or regulatory power.

Private disputes: Olthuis van Ert's lawyers represent clients in negligence claims, contract and property disputes, estate proceedings, and a variety of other private law matters.

Class actions: Olthuis van Ert acts for plaintiff and defendant parties in complex class proceedings, including actions arising out of alleged product liability, public liability, natural disasters, breaches of privacy and unconstitutional taxes.

Indigenous rights: Olthuis van Ert acts in cases asserting Aboriginal rights and title under the Constitution Act, 1982, and advises widely on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

International legal matters: The firm's lawyers also handle private international law matters, such as the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and international arbitral awards, and the taking of extra-jurisdictional deposition evidence. Gib van Ert is recognized as a leading authority on the application of public international legal norms in Canadian courts.

Supreme Court advisory: The firm's lawyers have extensive experience in the Supreme Court of Canada, and the firm frequently advises parties on matters pending before the Court.