Doug H. Hopkins*

Doug’s practice focuses on corporate and commercial law, with a particular emphasis on public procurement, ethics, and conflict of interest matters. He advises entrepreneurs, business owners, and a wide range of governmental agencies and public institutions.

Corporate Law Practice

Doug advises clients on all aspects of corporate and organizational law, including the incorporation and structuring of companies, societies, and trusts. His work includes corporate organization and reorganization, governance matters, regulatory compliance, amalgamations, arrangements, continuations, alterations of share capital, dissolutions and wind‑ups, liquidations, revivals and restorations. He regularly advises on shareholder agreements, corporate meetings and disputes, and directors’ and shareholders’ rights and liabilities. Doug also has extensive experience advising partnerships, limited partnerships, and joint ventures.

Commercial and Transactional Practice

Doug’s commercial practice centres on business mergers and acquisitions, including share and asset transactions. He advises clients throughout the transaction lifecycle, including negotiation and drafting of transaction documents, financing arrangements, and due diligence. His experience also includes advising on bank and equity financings, barter systems, automobile dealership arrangements, loan portfolio assignments and related security, conditional sales, agency, distribution, and factoring arrangements.

Public Procurement, Ethics, and Conflict of Interest

Doug acts as both an adjudicator and advisor to governmental agencies and public institutions on ethical and conflict of interest matters arising in public procurement processes. Since 2003, he has advised or served as project conflict of interest adjudicator for provincial governments, local governments, and Crown corporations on major infrastructure and procurement projects.

Representative projects include the Pattullo Bridge Replacement, the Millennium Line Broadway Extension, the Evergreen Line Rapid Transit Project, the Port Mann Bridge Replacement, the Lions Gate Secondary Wastewater Treatment Plant, hospital developments including the Children’s and Women’s Hospital Project, the Okanagan Correctional Centre, BC Hydro’s Site C Clean Energy Project and Smart Meter Program, and numerous highway maintenance and transportation infrastructure procurements.

Doug also regularly acts as a conduct review advisor to boards of directors on ethical and conflict of interest matters.

Recognition

Doug has been recognized by his peers and listed in Best Lawyers in Canada since 2013 for Corporate Law, Corporate Governance Practice, and Mergers and Acquisitions Law.

Professional Activities

• Principal Editor, O’Brien’s Encyclopedia of Forms – Corporations (British Columbia)
• Counsel, Better Business Bureau of Mainland British Columbia
• Contributor, Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia
• Past Chair, Board of Variance, District of North Vancouver

Representative Transactions

Advising family shareholders in connection with comprehensive shareholder agreements for multi‑million‑dollar family‑owned enterprises

Acting for purchasers in the acquisition and financing of major hotel properties, including offshore financing structures

Counsel to automobile dealerships on ongoing business matters and relations with manufacturers including Ford, General Motors, and Toyota

Advising foreign companies on establishing Canadian operations, including corporate structuring, taxation, immigration, employment, and banking matters

Sale and restructuring of manufacturing, chemical distribution, cablevision, and laboratory testing businesses

General counsel to an international chemical distributor, including acquisition transactions

Formation of an industrial finance group, including establishment of a single‑purpose British Columbia trust company

Development of financing structures for First Nations economic development projects

Conflict of interest adjudicator and advisor on numerous provincial government public‑private partnership (P3) projects and other procurement initiatives