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Dionysios Rossi

Partner

Vancouver
DRossi@blg.com
604.640.4110

Expertise

Mary-Ellen Collins

Practice Assistant - Team Leader

Vancouver
mcollins@blg.com
604.622.5945
604.640.4242
Dionysios practices in the areas of shipping & transportation, environmental, and energy law. He represents clients in a variety of transactional, regulatory, and dispute-related matters.

He has represented clients before the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, all levels of court in British Columbia and before a number of administrative tribunals.

Prior to joining the firm, he served as a judicial law clerk to several justices of the British Columbia Supreme Court.

Dionysios frequently speaks and publishes on a wide variety of legal subjects. He has been interviewed by national media outlets such as Global News Television, and his work has appeared in general interest publications (including the Vancouver Sun and Business in Vancouver), trade publications, and in legal publications (including the Irwin Law Canadian Maritime Law reference work, The Transportation Lawyer, The Lawyers Weekly, The Verdict, and in various Continuing Legal Education Society of BC works).

Experience

  • Overview

    • Counsel to shipping and transportation clients in dispute-related matters (vessel arrest and sale, cargo arrest, casualty incidents, spill response, regulatory investigations, and judicial reviews), transactional matters (the negotiation of charter party agreements, contracts of affreightment, terminal services agreements, tug service agreements, confidential railway contracts, trucking contracts, and vessel construction agreements), and regulatory approvals (permits, licenses, authorizations).
    • Counsel to major project proponents (including Translink, Woodfibre LNG, Ridley Terminals, B.C. Hydro, Petronas, and Apache Corporation) on matters involving environmental assessments, regulatory approvals, and the allocation of environmental risks and liabilities in infrastructure projects.
    • Counsel on a wide range of environmental law matters in the transactional, regulatory and litigation contexts, including: the environmental assessment process (federal and provincial), civil cost-recovery proceedings, the contractual allocation of environmental risks and liabilities, pollution-related matters (air, water, and soil), spills, and regulatory compliance and enforcement (including criminal prosecutions).
    • Counsel to energy industry clients in proceedings before the National Energy Board (now the Canada Energy Regulator), the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission, the British Columbia Oil and Gas Appeal Tribunal, the British Columbia Utilities Commission, and the British Columbia Surface Rights Board.

  • Recent Matters

    • Counsel to Kirby Corporation in ongoing Canadian Federal Court and British Columbia Supreme Court civil proceedings and British Columbia Provincial Court regulatory proceedings arising from the grounding of the M/T Nathan E. Stewart in October 2016, and subsequent bunker fuel spill.
    • Counsel to Bel Excavating and Shoring Limited Partnership in British Columbia Provincial Court regulatory proceedings arising from the $200 million expansion of Fairview Terminals.
    • Counsel to Parkland Fuels in the negotiation of a tug services agreement for its Burnaby Refinery, and other vessel charter party issues.
    • Counsel to Filld Inc. on all aspects of the commencement and operation of its mobile fuel delivery service in Canada.
    • Counsel to Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. in all Canadian Federal Court and British Columbia Supreme Court proceedings arising out of its US$10.5 billion foreign insolvency in 2016.
    • Counsel to the City of Vancouver in Federal Court proceedings arising out of the 2015 M/V Marathassa oil spill in Burrard Inlet.
    • Counsel to the two largest container terminals in Port Metro Vancouver in Federal Court judicial review proceedings arising from the 2014 Joint Action Plan imposed to end a commercial trucking strike.
    • Counsel to a member of the Jordanian royal family in Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal, and British Columbia Supreme Court proceedings to enforce a US$28.8-million foreign judgment, in a matter involving the arrest of 144-foot tri-deck luxury yacht and subsequent insolvency of a local shipyard.
    • Counsel to a shipowner in Federal Court proceedings seeking combined damages of C$33 million arising out of a collapsed stow of containerized uranium cargo during a voyage from Vancouver, Canada to Zhangjiang, China.
    • Counsel to a shipowner in successful Federal Court trial and appeal proceedings holding that the Hague Visby Rules do not compulsorily apply to sea waybills under Canadian law, and enforcing a C$50,000 contractual limitation of liability, in a C$1.5-million action for damage to cargo, following a derailment.

Beyond Our Walls

Professional Involvement

  • Director, Environmental Law section, Canadian Bar Association
  • Member, Canadian Bar Association
  • Member, Canadian Maritime Law Association
  • Member, Law Society of British Columbia
  • Member, Vancouver Bar Association
  • Past chair and former director, Maritime Law section, Canadian Bar Association
  • Past director, Canadian Transportation Lawyers Association
  • Past vice-president (communications) and former director, Environmental Managers Association
  • Past director, British Columbia Civil Liberties Association

Community Involvement

  • Supervising Lawyer, Pro-Bono Students of Canada & UBC Law Homeless ID Clinic
  • Volunteer, UBC Law School Moot Court judge
  • Volunteer, UBC Law School mentor program

Awards & Recognitions

  • Awarded the highest Martindale-Hubbell® designation of AV® Preeminent™ (4.9 out of 5 in client and peer reviews).
  • Recognized in the 2021 edition (and since 2018) of The Best Lawyers in Canada® (Environmental Law and Maritime Law).
  • Recognized in the 2021 edition (and since 2018) of Chambers Canada — Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business (Transportation: Shipping).
  • Recognized in the 2021 edition (and since 2019) of The Legal 500 (Transport: Shipping).
  • Recognized in the 2020 edition (and since 2018) of Benchmark Litigation — The definitive guide to litigation firms and attorneys in Canada.
  • Recognized in the 2020 edition (and since 2016) of The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (Shipping and Maritime Law).

Bar Admission & Education

  • British Columbia, 2007
  • LLB, University of British Columbia, 2005
  • MA (History), Simon Fraser University, 2004
  • BA (History), Simon Fraser University, 2001

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