Andrew Wilkinson, Q.C. is a partner in the firm's Litigation Group in Vancouver. He has extensive experience as a court room lawyer, acting for both plaintiffs and defendants in class actions, negligence, fiduciary duty and commercial claims, and at Coroner's inquests. His current practice includes product liability actions, class actions based on product liability and price fixing claims, franchise and IT procurement disputes, and a variety of other commercial disputes. He has appeared as counsel in more than two dozen trials and appeals in the B.C. Supreme Court, the B.C. Court of Appeal, and at the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to being called to the bar, Andrew was educated and licensed as a physician, and has extensive experience defending negligence claims against physicians. He was appointed as Queen's Counsel in 2008.
Mr. Wilkinson is featured in the 2012 edition of Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business in the area of dispute resolution.
Andrew Wilkinson's recent experience includes:
· defending a multi-billion dollar healthcare cost recovery law suit based on product liability;
· defending class actions against a major hand-held device manufacturer based on privacy/ geo-location issues and alleged price fixing;
· defending a class action against a crib manufacturer after a voluntary recall;
· defending a class action against a lottery corporation for alleged withdrawal of prizes;
· prosecuting a marine cargo claim against a terminal operator on behalf of a shipper;
· prosecuting a multi-million dollar contract claim against a municipality on behalf of a Chinese multi-national forest company;
· lobbying for tailor-made legislation to permit a Swedish forest company to operate in British Columbia; and
· lobbying on behalf of a multi-national waste-to-energy company on regulatory issues in British Columbia.
Recently completed matters include:
· successfully extracting a major US airline from a fuel surcharge class action;
· negotiating a multi-billion dollar transfer of assets from a health service agency to a Provincial government;
· successfully defending an arbitrated contract dispute between a major lottery corporation and a key supplier;
· assisting a multi-national bank with US Department of Justice investigations;
· successfully lobbying for retroactive legislation to preclude litigation in a real estate matter;
· successfully defending a franchise claim on behalf of a multi-national athletic wear company; and
· successfully lobbying for retroactive legislation to terminate a class action against a university.
He currently serves on the panel of arbitrators for the Canadian national Agreement on Internal Trade, and the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA).
Prior to joining the firm in 2006, he was Deputy Minister of the British Columbia Ministry of Economic Development, where he had responsibility for economic issues, trade, tourism, and business marketing. He was responsible for important initiatives during his tenure including the British Columbia Climate Change Plan, the 2010 Olympic Tourism Strategy, reorganization of the governance of the Columbia Power Corporation, and the British Columbia Ports Strategy, which culminated in a federal investment of $590 million dollars into the Pacific Gateway Project. For this work, he was awarded the Medal of Merit by the Association of Canadian Port Authorities in 2005. He also served as Deputy Minister for Intergovernmental Relations in the Premier's Office for two years.
Andrew Wilkinson was born in Australia, and graduated in medicine from the University of Alberta. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, and took his first two law degrees at Oxford University. He received his LLB from Dalhousie and was called to the British Columbia bar in 1988.
He is currently President of the Vancouver Institute, and has served in the past as President of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, President of the B.C. Mountaineering Club, and President of the B.C. Liberal Party.
Andrew Wilkinson has been a frequent presenter for the Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C. He has served on numerous boards, including the Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project, the Canadian Tourism Commission, Tourism B.C., Forest Innovation and Investment, and is currently co-chair of the Arts Umbrella Campaign Cabinet.