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., Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, B.C. Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of Canada, mediators, and arbitration and administrative tribunals.

Rankings and Recognitions

• Martindale-Hubbell BV® Distinguished™ 4.3 out of 5 Peer Review Rating

Professional Experience

• Representative cases include:
• Representing majority shareholder of software developer in shareholder oppression claim.
• Represented minority shareholders of real estate developer in shareholder oppression claim.
• Represented limited partner in “baseball' arbitration of disputes over mining limited partnership's budgeted cash calls.
• Represented placer gold mining joint venturer in breach of contract claims among joint venturers.
• Represented minority shareholders of public tungsten mining company in shareholder oppression claim.
• Represented purchaser/publisher of "Chinese Yellow Pages" business in arbitration of disputes with vendor/sales representative.
• Represented software developer in 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 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.
• Represented floor-covering companies in shareholder oppression claim and arbitration of share purchase price.
• 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

• "Preventing Oppression Claims by Managing Stakeholder Expectations", Canadian Corporate Counsel Association Magazine (in press).
• "Seeking the Rewards of Arbitration Over Litigation?  It's All in the Drafting!" Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada's annual conference, October 2011 (with Ludmilla Herbst and Judy Rost).
• "Shareholder Rights, Remedies and Proceedings" chapter in "B.C. Company Law Practice Manual" Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C., 2008-2011 (with Graeme Martindale and Stephen Robertson).
• “Shareholders' Remedies Under British Columbia Corporate and Securities Litigation” chapter in “Business Disputes Practice Manual” Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C. 2011 (with Stephen T.C. Warnett and Michelle T. Maniago).
• "Shareholder Oppression Claims Can Now Be Class Proceedings", Business in Vancouver, March 8-14, 2011 (with Brad Dixon and Stephen T.C. Warnett).
• “Shareholder Expectations – Ignore them at Your Peril” Sounding Board September/October 2010.
• "Foreign Injunctions Now Enforceable in Canada" Dispute Resolution Summer 2010.
• "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.
• "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.
• "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).
• "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.