Background

Stephen Antle is a partner at our Vancouver office. Stephen was admitted to the British Columbia Bar in 1987. He is also a Chartered Arbitrator. Prior to his admission to the bar, he was a Law Clerk with the British Columbia Court of Appeal. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Toronto Law School in 1985. Prior to that, he received a Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University in 1981.

Areas of Practice

• Commercial dispute resolution
• Expertise in all forms of dispute resolution: negotiation, mediation, arbitration, administrative proceedings and litigation.
• Areas of particular interest include corporate governance, shareholder and securities disputes, commercial arbitration and disputes involving more than one jurisdiction.
• Experience as counsel before the Supreme Court of B.C., B.C. Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of Canada, mediators and arbitration and administrative tribunals.

Rankings and Recognitions

• Martindale-Hubbell BV® Distinguished™ 4.4 out of 5 Peer Review Rating

Professional Experience

• Representative cases include:
• Represented mining limited partner in “baseball' arbitration of disputes over limited partnership budgeted cash calls.
• Represented placer gold mining joint venturer in breach of contract claims among joint venturers.
• Represented minority shareholders of public mining company in oppression claim against company and majority shareholder.
• Represented purchaser/publisher of "Chinese Yellow Pages" business in arbitration of disputes with vendor/sales representative.
• Represented software developer in minority shareholder's lawsuit to have shareholders agreement declared invalid.
• Represented landlords in three commercial lease renewal rent arbitrations.
• Represented mining company in determination by independent expert of entitlement to break fee under arrangement agreement.
• Represented independent committee of board of directors of public mining company in investigation of allegations of director wrongdoing.
• Represented minority shareholder of courier company in resolution of shareholder dispute by purchase of majority shareholder's shares.
• Represented lumber and specialty food wholesalers in obtaining court approval of conversions from companies to income trusts by plans of arrangement.
• Represented U.S. manufacturer in obtaining evidence from B.C. witnesses for use in California military procurement bribery lawsuit.
• Defended floor-covering companies in shareholder oppression lawsuit and arbitration of share purchase price.
• Defended B.C. Ministry of Forests in Forest Act Appeal Board appeal of cancellation of timber tenures, and appeals to Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada.
• Represented software development company in commercial arbitration of shareholder's refusal to complete share put transaction.

Professional and Community Activities

• Member, Law Society of B.C.
• Director, Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada
• Member, B.C. International Commercial Arbitration Centre panels of experts
• Member, B.C. Arbitration and Mediation Institute
• Member, Canadian Bar Association
• Member, American Bar Association

Publications

• “Shareholders' Remedies Under British Columbia Corporate and Securities Litigation” chapter in “Business Disputes Practice Manual” Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C. (in press) (with Stephen T.C. Warnett and Michelle T. Maniago)
• “Shareholder Expectations – Ignore them at Your Peril” Sounding Board May/June 2010 (in press)
• "Resolving Disputes" chapter in "Advising B.C. Business", Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C., 2006-2010. (2007 ACLEA Award for Professional Excellence)
• “Creditors Have a Powerful Tool to Recover the Amounts They're Owed” Business in Vancouver, March 2-8, 2010
• “Shareholder Rights: More Than Meets the Eye” Beyond Numbers, January 2010
• "Realizing the Benefits of Commercial Arbitration" Outlook Magazine, December 2009
• "Shareholder Rights - More Than Meets The Eye" CMA Management Magazine, December 2009
• “Shareholder Oppression”, Outlook Magazine, June 2009.
• "Shareholder Rights, Remedies and Proceedings" chapter in "B.C. Company Law Practice Manual" Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C., 2008-2009 (with Graeme Martindale and Stephen Robertson).
• "Common Sense Dispute Resolution", Dispute Resolution, Winter 2009.
• "And Now For Something Slightly Different: The British Columbia Oppression Remedy," Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C.'s "Shareholders' Remedies" course, November 2006, Vancouver (with Stephen T.C. Warnett and J. Tracy Li).
• "Arbitration May be the Answer When Parties Want to Avoid Going to Court", Management Matters, April 2006.
• "Commercial Arbitration Design Considerations", Canadian Institute's Managing Complex Litigation conference, April 2006, Toronto.
• "Conflicts of Laws Issues", Canadian Institute's Managing Complex Litigation conference, April 2006, Toronto (with Ward B. Washington).
• "Obtaining Evidence in Foreign Jurisdictions and Dealing with Foreign Letters of Request in B.C.", Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C.'s Conflicts course, April 2006, Vancouver (with Ward B. Washington).
• "Shareholders' Rights and Remedies", Professional Legal Training Course materials, 2006.
• "The British Columbia Administrative Tribunals Act and Administrative Arbitration Design Considerations", Canadian Institute's Advanced Administrative Law and Practice conference, October 2005, Ottawa.
• "Court Proceedings Under the New British Columbia Business Corporations Act", Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C., September 2004 (with Stephen T.C. Warnett).
• "Shareholder Oppression - What Is, What Isn't", September 2003.
• "Practical Legal Basics for Business", Business Law Gazette 2002.
• "Securities Litigation and the Oppression Remedy", Insight Information Western Forum on Commercial Litigation, September 2002, Vancouver (with Stephen J. Mulhall and Stephen T.C. Warnett).
• "Enforcing Letters Rogatory in British Columbia : An Update", Washington State Bar News, June 2002.
• "Oppression, Just and Equitable Winding Up and the Family Company", Canadian Bar Review, September – December 1997.
• "The Effect of Foreign Blocking Legislation in Canada", The Advocate, March 1995.
• "Enforcing Letters Rogatory in British Columbia", Washington State Bar News, February 1995.
• "A Practical Guide to Section 347 of the Criminal Code - Criminal Rates of Interest", Canadian Business Law Journal, June 1994.