Matthew R. Voell

Matthew acts for local government clients on a wide variety of civil and commercial matters, including disputes involving breaches of contracts and agreements, real estate development and insurance defence. Matthew also provides litigation services for clients on a wide variety of public and administrative law matters, including judicial review of administrative decisions and bylaw enforcement.

Matthew has represented clients at all levels of Court in British Columbia, as well as before numerous administrative tribunals, including the BC Human Rights Tribunal, the Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner, and BC Assessment. Matthew also sits on the Council of the BC Institute of Agrologists as well as the BC Cancer and Providence Health Care Research Ethics Boards.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

• Law Society of British Columbia
• Canadian Bar Association, Administrative Law Section Executive
• Vancouver Bar Association

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Matthew speaks at seminars on local government, human rights, and administrative law topics for various organizations, including the Canadian Bar Association and Continuing Legal Education of British Columbia. Matthew is also an active volunteer with the Access Pro Bono Society of British Columbia.

Matthew’s recent publications and presentations include:

• “Swimming Against the Tide: Standards of Review and the British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal” 32 Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice 207 (2019)
• “Local Government Case Law Update”, WKB and RM LGMA Chapter Meeting (April 2019)
• “Judicial Review of Motor Vehicle Decisions of the Civil Resolution Tribunal”, 2019 Civil Resolution Tribunal and Personal Injury Practice (Continuing Legal Education Society, April 2019) with O. Pulleyblank
• “CRT – Jurisdiction and Judicial Review of Tribunal Decisions”, Life After Caps: Minor Injuries (TLABC, May 2019) with W. Veenstra Q.C.
• “Biosafety and Intellectual Property Regimes as Elements of the IP-Regulatory Complex”, with E. Marden, et al., in The Intellectual Property-Regulatory Complex: Overcoming Barriers to Innovation in Agricultural Genomics (UBC Press, 2015)
• “Tribunal Independence and the Role of Elected Officials: A Critical Examination of the Pat Pimm Conflict of Interest Opinion” 2014 Administrative Law Conference (Continuing Legal Education Society, October 2014), with M.G. Underhill
• “Researching the Decisions of Tribunals & Quasi-Judicial Bodies” Legal Research 2014 (Continuing Legal Education society, October 2014), with M.G. Underhill
• “You Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Remediated): The New Limitation Act and Contaminated Site Remediation” 2014 Civil Litigation Conference (Continuing Legal Education Society, March 2014), with M.G. Underhill
• “PHS Community Services Society v. Canada (Attorney General): Positive Health Rights, Health Care Policy, and Section 7 of the Charter” 31 Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues 41 (2012)
• “The Baby and the Bathwater: Alberta Teaches and True Questions of Vires” 17th Annual Interdisciplinary Legal Studies Graduate Students’ Conference (May, 2012)