Michelle has a robust litigation practice, with significant expertise in the areas of class actions, civil litigation, arbitration and appeals. She focuses on complex commercial and corporate disputes.
Additionally, Michelle has specialized knowledge in a variety of areas, including:
- corporate governance;
- advertising and competition law;
- consumer protection law;
- plans of arrangement; and
- privacy law, including access to information requests and compliance with privacy and data protection legislation
Michelle has appeared as counsel before the courts of British Columbia, the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, the Alberta Court of Appeal, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the BC Privacy Commissioner, the Federal Privacy Commissioner, and the Youth Justice (Criminal) Court. She also has appeared as counsel before both domestic and international arbitration tribunals. She has extensive experience in defending provincial and national class proceedings.
Michelle is a regional lead for BLG’s Appellate Advocacy Group and active with BLG’s Class Actions and Arbitration groups. She is a leader in technology-assisted and virtual hearings, and was one of the first counsel in British Columbia to conduct a trial with electronically-presented evidence in 2012. Prior to beginning her articles at BLG, Michelle completed a one-year judicial clerkship at the BCCA.
During law school, she completed Osgoode Hall's Intensive Program in Aboriginal Lands, Resources and Government. As part of that program, Michelle spent two months in New Zealand developing a legally focused rehabilitation program for maximum-security prisoners who were about to be released from custody. She also received Osgoode Hall's class prize for constitutional litigation.