Nathanson Schachter & Thompson

Nathanson, Schachter & Thompson LLP was founded in 1987. Led by five Queen’s Counsel, the firm’s practice is limited to civil litigation, with a focus on business disputes and arbitration. For over 25 years, the firm has litigated many of British Columbia’s largest and most complicated commercial lawsuits, including two of Canada’s largest mining claims, and leading securities and shareholder disputes.

Known for its intellectual rigour, high quality advocacy, responsiveness to clients’ needs, and flexibility in procedural matters, the firm has experience arguing and defending certification motions, judicial reviews, summary trials, trials, and appeals.

The firm utilizes its expertise to provide strategic advice and to seek practical solutions out of court. When that is not possible, NST’s lawyers have the courtroom experience to see a matter through to judgment. The firm’s success is the result of its team approach to efficiently and effectively resolving civil and business disputes.

In addition to the firm’s five Queen’s Counsel, the firm includes several former law clerks, including two former clerks to the Chief Justice of British Columbia. The firm’s lawyers regularly contribute to legal scholarship, including: serving as adjunct professors at UBC Law School; writing chapters in texts on Business Torts, Government Liability, and the Annual Review of Law and Practice; frequently speaking at continuing legal education events on civil litigation law and practice; and authoring one of the province’s main litigation handbooks, the annual British Columbia Supreme Court Rules Annotated.

Representative Work: The firm’s lawyers have the trial and appellate expertise to handle a broad range of civil and business disputes including mining claims, hostile takeover bids, shareholder disputes, securities matters, class proceedings, pension litigation, actions for professional negligence, administrative proceedings, breach of contract, defamation, construction disputes, and employment matters.

The firm’s lawyers have extensive experience before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada, and before administrative tribunals. The firm is often retained specifically to act as appellate counsel.

In addition, Mr. Clemens has an active practice arbitrating and mediating a wide variety of commercial disputes as a neutral.

A few of the firm’s practice areas and representative cases include:

Mining Disputes: The firm has successfully represented clients in two of Canada’s most significant mining cases: Minera Aquiline Argentina SA v. IMA Explorations Inc. and Inmet Mining Corp. v. Homestake Canada Inc. In Minera Aquiline, the defendant was compelled to transfer to the plaintiff the Navidad Project – a world class silver deposit in Argentina – as a result of its unlawful use of confidential exploration data. In Inmet, the plaintiff vendor of a gold mine was awarded $111 million from the defendant who unlawfully refused to complete a purchase agreement on the basis of an alleged failure to disclose material facts.

Oppression Claims/Securities/Shareholder Disputes: In Icahn Partners LP v. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., the firm successfully represented a New York hedge fund both at trial and on appeal in a shareholders’ oppression action seeking to set aside transactions converting approximately $110 million from debt to equity. This matter was successfully defended on its merits within three months of the disputed conversion.

In Telus Corp. v. Mason Capital Management LLC, the firm represented Mason Capital, an American hedge fund, in a corporate battle against Telus. The case was notable for its compressed time frame—the trial was heard in early September 2012, and the matter was heard and decided by the Court of Appeal in early October 2012.

Class Actions: In Sun-Rype Products Ltd. v. Archer Daniels Midland and Others the firm successfully represented, ultimately before the Supreme Court of Canada, one of the defendants in a class proceeding alleging a conspiracy to fix prices in the sale and distribution of high-fructose corn syrup. Lexpert magazine listed this as one of the top 10 business cases of 2013.

Pension Litigation: In Bower v. Cominco Ltd., the firm successfully defended a $78 million claim by pensioners alleging an unlawful pension surplus transfer between plans.

In Buschau v. Rogers Cablesystems Inc., the firm successfully defended related actions, twice appearing in the Supreme Court of Canada, in which employees sought to recover pension surplus by forcing the wind-up of a close pension plan following the employer’s removal of funds in breach of trust.

Partnership/Human Rights Law: In McCormick v. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, the firm represented a leading national law firm before the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada in relation to a former partner’s human rights age discrimination complaint. McCormick was listed by Lexpert magazine as one of the top 10 business cases of 2014.

Defamation: In Hughes v. Vander Zalm, the firm successfully represented B.C.’s former conflict of interest commissioner Ted Hughes in a jury trial against former B.C. Premier Bill Vander Zalm.

Recognition: Benchmark Canada listed the firm as B.C. litigation “Firm of the Year” in February 2013, and listed five of the firm’s lawyers as “Litigation Stars” in 2012-2017: Irwin G. Nathanson, Q.C., Stephen R. Schachter, Q.C., Murray Clemens, QC, Geoffrey Gomery QC, James C. MacInnis, and Karen Carteri. Irwin Nathanson and Stephen Schachter have also been recognized as two of Canada’s Top 50 Trial Lawyers. Peter Senkpiel & Kevin Loo have been recognized as Future Stars.

Best Lawyers in Canada has consistently ranked members of the firm, including partners James C. MacInnis and Kevin D. Loo, as leading lawyers in a variety of categories, including Bet-the-Company Litigation, Class Action Litigation, Corporation and Commercial Litigation, Director and Officer Liability, Labour and Employment, and Securities Law. Mr. Gomery was named Vancouver’s Lawyer of the Year in corporate and commercial litigation in 2018.   

Mr. Schachter was named Vancouver’s “Bet-the-Company Litigation Lawyer of the Year” for 2015. Mr. Nathanson was named Vancouver’s “Class Action Litigation Lawyer of the Year” in 2012 and 2016, “Director and Officer Liability Practice Lawyer of the Year” in 2013 & 2018, “Bet-the-Company Litigation Lawyer of the Year” in 2010 and 2014 and Corporate and Commercial Litigation Lawyer of the year in 2017 .

Canadian Lawyer lists the firm as one of Canada’s “Top 10 Litigation Boutiques”.

Chambers Global ranks Nathanson Schachter & Thompson LLP in its top category of dispute resolution firms in Vancouver, identifying the firm as ‘historically a top player in the province’.

Lexpert has ranked the firm in its top tier of litigation specialty firms in Vancouver since the inception of that publication. It ranks four of the firm’s partners as leading commercial litigators in Vancouver.

Last updated February 2018