Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Gord is Co-Leader of the Canada Region Litigation and Dispute Resolution group in Calgary. He is the past National Chair and Calgary Leader of the Firm's Alternative Dispute Resolution Group.

Gord’s practice focuses on the resolution of corporate, commercial and energy industry disputes. He is able to draw upon 25 years of experience as a problem solver in a broad spectrum of disputes. This dispute resolution experience – employing ADR mechanisms (negotiation, mediation and arbitration) as well as traditional litigation – allows Gord to provide clients with considered strategic advice and representation in order to achieve effective and efficient business results. He has served as counsel in numerous domestic and international arbitrations and in the private and judicial mediation of commercial disputes. Gord has also been retained by clients to act as “settlement counsel” to work independent of the litigation team to assist in the resolution of significant litigation matters. He has been recognized as a leading Canadian lawyer in Dispute Resolution in the Chambers Global Guide to The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business and is a member of the Western Canada Commercial Arbitration Society. In litigation matters, Gord has appeared before all levels of the Alberta Courts and has also represented clients before the Alberta Securities Commission and the Federal Court of Canada.

Gord has extensive experience in the energy industry and the resolution of disputes concerning industry relationships and agreements including: joint venture agreements, farmout agreements, wide area farmout agreements, area of mutual interest (AMI) agreements, pipeline construction, ownership and operating agreements, facility construction, ownership and operating agreements, unit agreements, gas purchase and sale agreements, electricity purchase and sale agreements, natural gas liquids (NGL) purchase and sale agreements, oil and gas asset purchase and sale agreements, energy company share purchase and sale agreements, royalty agreements, energy development financing agreements, gas gathering, transportation and processing agreements, oil transportation agreements, gas storage agreements, gas aggregator agreements, energy financial and derivative contracts, international joint operating agreements (JOAs), seismic licensing agreements, confidentiality agreements, pipeline right of way / easement agreements, various oilfield service agreements and general commercial and fiduciary relationships. His energy experience includes litigating and arbitrating disputes arising under such relationships as well as in relation to rights of first refusal (and other restrictions on dispositions), product allocation and accounting disputes, environmental liabilities, large and catastrophic losses arising from pipeline and facility failures, and land disputes, including those arising from production on aboriginal lands.

Gord’s practice also regularly includes serving as counsel in corporate and securities related disputes including oppression, derivative and fair value proceedings, plans of arrangement, hostile takeovers and proxy battles. He has also served as counsel in proceedings before the Alberta Courts and the Federal Court of Canada relating to the protection of various types of intellectual property including patents, copyright, trade secrets and other proprietary and confidential commercial information.

English

Advisory Board Member of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration Member of Alberta Arbitration and Mediation Society Member of the Canadian Bar Association Past National Chair Dentons Law ADR Group Past Member of the Dentons Calgary Board

University of Saskatchewan, 1988, LLB (with Distinction)

University of Saskatchewan, 1987, B.Comm. (with Distinction)

Advanced Negotiation: Difficult Conversations, Harvard Negotiation Institute (June 2009)

Advanced Negotiation and Mediation Training (January 5, 2006)

Negotiation Workshop for Lawyers, Harvard Negotiation Institute (June 2007)