Clarke Hunter is a partner in the Calgary office of Norton Rose Canada. He has practised in the area of litigation and dispute resolution since 1980, following a clerkship with Chief Justice Laskin at the Supreme Court of Canada.
He has represented clients in domestic and international arbitrations and mediations, at all levels of the courts in Alberta, in the courts of two other provinces, and in the Federal Court, the Tax Court and the Supreme Court of Canada. The disputes on which Mr. Hunter has acted have involved a broad range of subject matters, including aboriginal (government side), contractual and joint venture, fiduciary duties, oil and gas, corporate securities, director and officer liability, shareholder remedies, professional negligence, products liability, intellectual property, and tax.
Selected client work
Litigation
ˇ Represented the Government of Canada in the successful defence of multi-billion dollar oil and gas-related claims brought by two Alberta First Nations, involving a four-year trial and appeals to the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.
ˇ Represented Deer Creek Energy Limited, an Alberta oil sands company, in the successful defence of claims in excess of $1 billion for "fair value," after minority shareholders dissented from a second-stage squeeze-out following a takeover bid by the Canadian subsidiary of Total S.A.
ˇ Represented the Canadian subsidiary of B.J. Services in the Tax Court of Canada, establishing the right of a hostile takeover bid target to claim investment banking advisory fees and white knight break fees as deductions for income tax purposes and as input tax credits for GST purposes.
ˇ Represented a retirement residence operator on a successful trade-mark appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, identified by Lexpert as one of the 10 most important business cases in both 2010 and 2011.
Arbitration
ˇ Advised a Canadian oil and gas company with respect to international arbitration remedies on a dispute with the state oil company of an African nation, resolved prior to the commencement of arbitration under ICC rules.
ˇ Represented an Alberta energy facilities manufacturer in an arbitration against the Polish state oil and gas company, conducted in Warsaw under the rules of the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, and in a contractual mediation with a major Belgian company, conducted in Brussels.
ˇ Represented the participants in one of Alberta's largest oil sands projects in the arbitration of disputes relating to the calculation of pipeline tariffs for synthetic crude oil, conducted under domestic arbitration rules.
ˇ Represented the seven largest Japanese steel companies in a dispute with an Alberta coal mine, resolved prior to the commencement of arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules.
Advisory
ˇ Advised various companies on the Alberta Government's 2008 royalty review and the imposition of higher royalties on the oil and gas industry, and on the implementation of a new bitumen valuation methodology.
ˇ Advised corporate boards or special committees in responding to allegations of improper manipulation of historical stock option grants.
Publications
ˇ "Fair Value" - A Common Issue with Surprisingly Sparse Canadian Authority, Annual Review of Civil Litigation, Carswell (2011)
ˇ Appellate Guidance on Fair Value in a Two-Stage Takeover (Corporate Litigation Journal: Federated Press 2010)
ˇ Stock Option Manipulation Litigation (Corporate Litigation Journal: Federated Press 2009)
ˇ Contractual Misrepresentation - A Remedies Quagmire (Annual Review of Civil Litigation, Carswell: 2006)
ˇ Risk Analysis as a Dispute Resolution Tool
ˇ Business Valuation in Shareholder Agreements and Minority Shareholder Disputes
ˇ Confidential Information and Joint Ventures
Rankings and recognitions
ˇ Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, 2012: cited for Securities Litigation and Directors' & Officers' Liability.
ˇ Lexpert Guide to the Leading US - Canada Cross-border Litigation Lawyers, 2011: cited for Corporate Commercial, Securities and Product Liability Litigation.
ˇ Recognized by Benchmark Canada as a litigation star
ˇ Best Lawyers in the area of Commercial Litigation, 2012
ˇ Client/Peer rated "AV Pre-eminent 5.0 out of 5" by Martindale-Hubbell
ˇ Chambers Global 2011 (Canada) in the area of Dispute Resolution: Alberta (Band 2)
ˇ PLC Which Lawyer? 2011 (Alberta) in the area of Dispute Resolution
ˇ Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2011, Most Frequently Recommended in the areas of Directors' & Officers' Liability, Securities and Product Liability Litigation; Consistently Recommended in the area of Corporate Commercial Litigation.
ˇ Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers (inducted in 2009)
Memberships and activities
ˇ Supreme Court of Canada Advocacy Institute
ˇ Editorial Board, Corporate Litigation, Federated Press
ˇ Law Society of Alberta Conduct Committee, 2009 forward
ˇ Law Society of Alberta Professional Responsibility Committee, 2006-2008
ˇ Canadian Bar Association
ˇ Law Society of Alberta
ˇ Calgary Bar Association
ˇ Past instructor of advocacy skills to Alberta lawyers through the Legal Education Society
Directorships
ˇ YMCA Calgary Board of Directors, 2007 forward; Chair 2011-2013
ˇ Past Board member, Calgary Kiwanis Music Festival
Related Publications
Alberta Securities Commission addresses materiality, disclosure and insider trading
The Alberta Securities Commission recently made statements on a variety of topics in a decision which makes interesting reading for directors of public companies, particularly junior resource companies, and those who advise them.
01/12/2011
''Fair value'' - A common issue with surprisingly sparse Canadian authority
The requirements to determine the "fair value" of a corporation's shares arises in a myriad of contexts and gives rise to widely divergent levels of complexity.
01/09/2011
Appellate guidance on fair value in a two-stage takeover
Judicial guidance on dissenting shareholder fair value determinations remains surprisingly sparse in Canada.
01/10/2010
Stock option manipulation litigation
"Manipulation 'serious problem' - Canada rife with option backdating, lawyers conclude." That was the headline in a September 18, 2007 National Post story which generated extensive publicity about allegations that Canadian public companies had been manipulating their stock option grants.
01/09/2008
Contractual misrepresentation: A remedies quagmire
Whenever a contract goes badly for one party, the possibility of a vitiating misrepresentation claim arises as a possible ground for legal action by that party to void the contract or claim damages.
01/12/2006
Related News
Canucks paid $14.2 million
'It was an important and challenging case, so we were pleased to be involved with it and have a good relationship with the people in the Department of Justice and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs,' says Clarke Hunter in Law Times.
29/06/2009