Craig P. Dennis, K.C.*

Biography

Recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a “Top 50 Trial Lawyer in Canada,” Craig Dennis, K.C. has represented clients in significant litigation matters at the trial and appellate levels for more than 30 years.  Craig’s practice has a business focus with an emphasis on the effective resolution of complex commercial disputes. His litigation experience includes the defence of class actions, professional liability, shareholder and related corporate disputes, product liability, real estate and other land-related disputes, as well as administrative and constitutional law.

Craig’s counsel experience includes numerous appearances in the Supreme Court of Canada. As appellate counsel he has acted on appeals concerning:

• the law of negligence (Ryan v. Victoria (City), [[1999] 1 S.C.R. 201),
• liability of government (R. v. Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., 2011 SCC 42; Babcock v. Canada (Attorney General), 2002 SCC 57),
• the constitutional division of powers (Law Society of British Columbia v. Mangat, 2001 SCC 67),
• certification of class actions (Simsek v. United Airlines, Inc., 2017 BCCA 316),
• arbitration (Tresoro Mining Corporation v. Mercer Gold Corp. (B.C.), 2018 BCCA 160),
• mitigation of damages (Ueland v. Lynch, 2019 BCCA 431),
• directors’ duties (Sonic Holdings Ltd. v. Savage, 2021 BCCA 441), and
• foreseeability of loss (Tellini v. Bell Alliance, 2022 BCCA 106).

His varied trial experience includes claims in contract, fiduciary duty, professional negligence, fraud, defamation and breach of trust and has involved issues arising under statutes such as the Real Estate Development Marketing Act and the Environmental Management Act. His class actions experience covers areas such as product liability, alleged price fixing, consumer protection and breach of privacy claims. He has successfully represented several global or national professional services firms.

Craig regularly appears before the superior courts in British Columbia, and he also has appeared before courts in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as in Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada. Among different administrative tribunals, he has acted as counsel before:

• the Securities Commissions of both British Columbia and Alberta,
• the Environmental Appeal Board,
• the Health Professions Review Board, and
• such professional regulatory bodies as the Law Society of British Columbia and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.

Craig also has experience as a neutral arbitrator and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Industry publications including Lexpert and Chambers consistently recognize Craig as leading counsel in the area of corporate and commercial litigation and dispute resolution, with additional recognition in the areas of class actions and product liability. Best Lawyers in Canada^TM has recognized Craig as “Lawyer of the Year” in Administrative and Public Law, Vancouver (2015 and 2018), Product Liability Law (2022) and Class Action Litigation (2023). Craig is a fellow of the International Society of Barristers and the Litigation Counsel of America.

Craig is a frequent speaker and contributor to legal education. He has spoken and written for Continuing Legal Education on various topics, including appellate advocacy, trial advocacy, and expert evidence. He also has taught in advocacy programs put on by the Advocates’ Society and the Canadian Bar Association. He teaches in the trial advocacy course at UBC’s Allard School of Law and contributes as a speaker to the Inns of Court program for junior barristers.

As an author, Craig’s work has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada. Craig serves on the advisory board for the Class Action Defence Quarterly and has written on class actions for that journal. He is the author of the chapter on professional negligence in a work on Business Disputes published by the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia.

Craig began his legal career as a judicial law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada for the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin (then puisne justice). He holds law degrees from the University of Toronto and Harvard Law School.