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David Curtis, Partner | Construction Litigation

David Curtis *

Partner Fasken
Jurisdiction British Columbia, 2006
Language(s) English
Office(s) Vancouver
Contact
*Law Corporation
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Overview

David Curtis is a litigation and dispute resolution Partner in the Vancouver office. His practice is focused exclusively on the construction industry. David is a Fellow with the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers and is recognized as a leading construction lawyer by various ranking agencies.

David has extensive experience acting for construction owners, design-builders, general contractors, subcontractors, insurers and designers. He has advised clients on numerous types of projects in various industries including high rise residential, public infrastructure, energy and mining, hospitals, dams, transmission lines, water treatment facilities and pipelines. He provides advice on all ends of the construction spectrum, from helping clients with tendering disputes, to resolving disputes during construction, to post-construction litigation and arbitration. He has experience litigating cases in the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the Court of Appeal for British Columbia, and extensive mediation and arbitration experience.

David has lectured and written extensively on various topics related to construction law. He is currently an adjunct professor with the Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia, and co-teaches construction law every fall.

Clients seek David's advice on:

  • construction contract management
  • construction contract disputes
  • delay and disruption claims
  • change order disputes
  • site condition claims
  • tendering disputes
  • bond and insurance coverage claims
  • builders liens
  • building defect, warranty and insurance claims
  • construction related tort claims

David's experience includes:

  • Counsel to Teck Coal limited in an arbitration involving significant claims and counterclaims related to a water treatment facility in south-eastern British Columbia
  • Counsel to the design-builder of the Broadway Subway Project
  • Counsel to the project owner of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project regarding lien matters
  • Counsel to Travelers Insurance Company of Canada in over 60 multi-party construction defect litigation cases in the Supreme Court of British Columbia
  • Counsel to a Contractor in a change order dispute with respect to the Seymour-Capilano twin tunnel project
  • Counsel to Thompson Creek Metals and Terrane Metals Corp. in disputes over the construction of the Mount Milligan Mine
  • Counsel to Capital Regional Health District in respect of geotechnical claims
  • Counsel to Vancouver International Airport Authority in a tendering dispute
  • Counsel to a major utility company in a confidential arbitration relating to the construction of a transmission powerline
  • Counsel to various clients in respect of tendering, requests for proposals, and tendering disputes and evaluation issues

Achievements

Client Work

  • Change order dispute with respect to the Seymour-Capilano twin tunnel project, [Case - Seymour-Capilano Partnership], In respect of the Seymour-Capilano twin tunnel project, we advised the tunneling contractor in a large change order dispute with the owner. The claim resulted in a confidential settlement. Fasken advised the tunnelling contractor with a team led by Brook Greenberg, and included David Curtis and T...
  • Advised Quanta Services in the Fort McMurray transmission line in Alberta, [Deal - Quanta Services, Inc.], Fasken advised Quanta Services Inc. and Valard Construction LLP on the Fort McMurray West Transmission Line project, a 500kV transmission line from Edmonton to Fort McMurray, Alberta, on a public private partnership basis with an aggregate of $1.3 billion of bonds. This is the largest P3 financin...
  • Thompson Creek Metals and Terrane Metals Corp. in disputes over the construction of the Mount Milligan Mine, [Case - Thompson Creek Metals and Terrane Metals Corp.], We represented Thompson Creek Metals and Terrane Metals Corp. in three confidential arbitration disputes over the construction of the Mount Milligan Mine.  It resulted in a confidential settlement. The team was led by Brook Greenberg and included David Curtis and Tariq Ahmed (Construction Litig...
  • Oceanus Resources and El Tigre Silver combine, [Deal - Oceanus Resources Corporation], On November 13, 2015, Oceanus Resources Corporation (Oceanus) and El Tigre Silver Corp. (El Tigre) announced the completion of the previously announced arrangement agreement to combine their respective companies. The transaction was completed by way of a statutory plan of arrangement pursuant to ...
  • University of British Columbia wins successful defence to collect GPS information about its employees, [Case - University of British Columbia], The information University of British Columbia (UBC) collects from a GPS system installed in its Campus Security patrol vehicles is “personal information” of its employees. UBC was authorized to continue collecting and using the GPS information. Fasken Martineau represented UBC in the inquiry wit...
  • Budget Rent-A-Car of BC Ltd. v. Vancouver International Airport Authority, [Case - Vancouver International Airport Authority], Click here to read the BC Court of Appeal's decision Budget Rent-A-Car of BC Ltd. v. Vancouver International Airport Authority, 2009 BCCA 22 Click here to read the BC Supreme Court of decision Budget Rent-A-Car v. Vancouver International Airport Authority, 2007 BCSC 1186Fasken Martineau represe...
  • Obtained a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the British Columbia Utilities Commission for the ILM Project, [Deal - British Columbia Transmission Corporation], Fasken Martineau successfully obtained a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the British Columbia Utilities Commission for the ILM Project. The Project was a 250 km 500 kV transmission line. Read the decision: British Columbia Transmission Corporation and an application for a cer...
  • Acted as counsel for a major utility company in a confidential arbitration relating to the construction of a transmission powerline, [Deal - Confidential Client]
  • Advising on tendering, requests for proposals, and tendering disputes and evaluation issues, [Deal - Confidential Client]

Career & Education

Education

  • LLB University of Victoria
  • MA, Philosophy Dalhousie University
  • BA, Philosophy University of Victoria

Memberships & Affiliations

  • Fellow of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers
  • Law Society of British Columbia
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia (teaching Construction Law every fall in the faculty of law)

Knowledge

Events

Publications

  • Lien Issues in an Insolvency, 11/16/2015
Article Lien Issues in an Insolvency

Speaking Engagements

  • Terminating Contracts, 5/11/2023
  • The Claim of Lien: Both Form and Substance, 3/7/2023
  • Dealing with Covid Claims, 10/25/2022
Terminating Contracts PBLI's Construction Law 2023: Current Issues location location Vancouver, BC
The Claim of Lien: Both Form and Substance Builders Lien Update 2023 (CLE BC) location location Vancouver, BC
Dealing with Covid Claims Construction Projects in 2022: Global Disruptions, Local Solutions (PBLI) location location Vancouver, BC

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