Disponible en Anglais seulement
Val Lucas is a senior associate in our Litigation Group in Vancouver with a range of experience and industry perspective. She is a thoughtful, creative, and business-driven litigator. Her litigation approach and strategy are driven by a deep understanding of her clients' imperatives, their unique perspective, and the problems they face broadly in their business.
Her practice encompasses a range of commercial litigation matters, including natural resource and mining industry disputes, all aspects of project disputes and construction claims, and pre-litigation advisory work. She also has extensive experience with insurance coverage disputes, professional liability, company and shareholder litigation, and complex employment litigation.
Environmental and Regulatory
With an Environmental Science degree, a pre-law career in regulatory and environmental permitting in the mining sector, and legal experience gained during a secondment to an international oil and gas company, Val has a deep understanding of how the energy industry operates. She brings this industry experience and a practical understanding of client needs to her work.
She assists clients to develop strategies for all aspects of environmental and regulatory issues, including project environmental and regulatory permitting, operational environmental issues, and any pre-litigation issues that arise during the life of a natural resource project. She has experience with public consultation hearings as well as litigation arising from project permitting. She also has experience in utility regulation and has appeared before the Alberta Utilities Commission.
Natural Resource and Mining Industry Disputes
With deep industry knowledge and a multidisciplinary perspective, Val is capable counsel in all manner of natural resource and mining industry disputes. She regularly provides strategic guidance and representation to clients in this space in commercial litigation and arbitration proceedings. Val's fluency in Spanish is an asset for natural resource and mining clients operating internationally.
Val is called to the bar in Alberta and British Columbia. She continues to practice in both jurisdictions and has also acted as lead counsel in international arbitrations.
Val is the current co-chair of the CBA BC Natural Resources Section and regularly presents and organizes meetings relating to legal issues relevant to the membership.
Construction, Infrastructure and Project Disputes
Val has extensive experience advising in all manner of project and infrastructure disputes, including commercial construction arbitrations, multi-party contract disputes, professional liability claims, property disputes, and P3 project disputes. Her background litigating and deep understanding of construction insurance policies provides a unique and valuable perspective to her clients.
Pre-litigation, with the view of avoiding litigation, her involvement and advisory regularly assists clients with the careful exercise of navigating long-term project relationships, including in the P3 context, and navigating complex insurance issues.
Val is an active advocate for well-being in the legal profession, including within the firm and through the CBA. She is also an active mentor to young lawyers within her firm and more broadly within the Vancouver legal community.
