Sean Boyle, Vancouver

About Sean

Sean's practice involves all aspects of corporate/commercial litigation, with an emphasis on business, securities and mining disputes. He regularly defends financial institutions, public companies, directors, and officers in class actions. Sean's trial and appellate experience in commercial litigation matters includes contested merger transactions, takeover bids, plans of arrangements, shareholder litigation, dissent proceedings, contractual disputes and negligence claims.

Sean has experience advising clients on compliance with domestic and international anticorruption legislation, including the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act.

Sean also advises investment dealers on matters of regulatory compliance and has represented clients in regulatory investigations and hearings conducted by the B.C. Securities Commission and other provincial securities commissions, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA).

Sean's experience includes a secondment to the B.C. Securities Commission (enforcement division), where he negotiated settlements and appeared as counsel in commission hearings.

Select Experience

Sean's experience includes:

Successfully defending, at trial and on appeal, allegations of negligent misrepresentation and breaches of fiduciary duties in a complex commercial action
Defending a claim for unpaid invoices and additional costs incurred by the general contractor, along with the prosecution of counterclaims, with respect to the construction of a waste water treatment plant
Successfully having all claims dismissed after a 43-day trial of an action for an unpaid brokerage fee of approximately C$17-million arising from the sale of a business
Conducting international anticorruption investigations and due diligence for multinational clients in connection with allegations of improper payments to government officials in Asia and Africa
Successful prosecution of performance bond and labour and material payment bond claims regarding the failure of owners or general contractors to satisfy invoices issued by material suppliers on various construction projects
Counsel to a reporting issuer in a successful appeal to the Yukon Court of Appeal related to the application of shareholder dissent rights under a Plan of Arrangement
Defending an investment dealer in nine related civil actions arising from a cross-border undercover operation conducted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Clarifying, before the B.C. Court of Appeal, the obligations of B.C. Securities Commission staff in disclosing documents to a respondent in the context of an inter-jurisdictional investigation and the process to be undertaken by Commission staff in disclosing such documents
Successfully defending allegations before the B.C. Securities Commission brought by a bidder in a hostile take-over that a competing bidder's take-over bid circular contained material disclosure deficiencies
Acting as litigation counsel to potential acquirers and targets in hostile take-over bids and related shareholder rights plan hearings
Defending various investment dealers and brokers in civil actions and assisting in response to regulatory investigations pertaining to client investment and compliance issues
Representing companies and public issuers on a variety of litigation matters, including court approval of plans of arrangement and corporate reorganizations
Acting for institutional and individual clients in hearings and investigations by the B.C. Securities Commission related to alleged contraventions of the Securities Act (B.C.) including insider trading and unregistered distributions of securities

Awards & Recognition

Sean has been shortlisted by Benchmark Canada in the category of Canada's Securities Litigator of the Year, and Litigator of the Year: British Columbia. He is further recognized as a leading lawyer in the following publications:

Chambers Canada: Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business 2024 (Litigation Securities: British Columbia; and Litigation: White Collar Crime & Government Investigations): "Sean Boyle is regarded as a 'very strong technical lawyer' by his enthusiastic clients, who particularly praise his 'extensive background and experience in securities related issues.'" His clients are "'consistently impressed with the top-notch service he provides' and consider him a 'very effective oral advocate.'"
The Best Lawyers in Canada 2024 (Construction Law, Corporate and Commercial Litigation, Director and Officer Liability Practice, and Securities Law)
Lexpert Special Edition: Mining 2023
Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2023 (Corporate and Commercial Litigation and Securities Litigation)
The Legal 500 Canada 2023 (Dispute Resolution)
Benchmark Canada: The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys 2023 (Securities Litigation): Sean Boyle "has emerged as a real leader, not just in Vancouver, but nationwide."
Who's Who Legal: Canada 2022 (Investigations, Business Crime Defence)
Who's Who Legal: Global 2022 (Investigations)