COUNSEL

Joel V. Payne

Joel's favourite question is "but why?" When it comes to advocating for clients and trying to find the best possible result in complicated disputes, there are few practices, traditions, or laws that Joel sees as beyond challenge or improvement.

Joel is an experienced civil litigator and appeals lawyer with a modern philosophy. He clerked at the British Columbia Court of Appeal and has represented clients in every level of court in Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada, in arbitration and mediation, and in informal settlement negotiations. From complex corporate/commercial litigation to property and contract disputes for small businesses—Joel has experience with finding the best way to solve a wide range of legal problems.

Joel likes to say that his practice area is "anything that can go wrong in operating a business, negotiating or performing a contract, or between shareholders or partners." He enjoys the challenge of tricky disputes, novel legal questions, and any kind of legal problem without an obvious answer. 

As someone who grew up with a love of all manner of technology, Joel's practice is deliberately modern and tech-forward. He believes that lawyers should always be ready to adapt to any reliable modern technology that has the potential to save clients time, money, and to achieve better, more timely results.

Joel has a wonderful family and fulfilling personal life, but he is too concerned about the current state of online privacy to say anything more than that on the internet. As a hobby, Joel likes to constantly change his Linux distribution, learn different coding languages, and make mostly useless robots with single-board computers and microcontrollers.