Andrea C. Akelaitis

Andrea Akelaitis* provides advice and representation on a full range of environmental and regulatory matters.
Ms. Akelaitis has acted as advisor and co-counsel on many of British Columbia’s contaminated sites matters including before the Environmental Appeal Board on behalf of the successful party in Seaspan ULC v. Director, Environmental Management Act and Domtar Inc. et al (May 9, 2013).

Ms. Akelaitis works in air and odour management regulatory issues and in a range of issues related to recycling and waste management. She acted as co-counsel in the leading Canadian odour management decision West Coast Reduction Ltd. v. District Director of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (BC Environmental Appeal Board, March 8, 2010).

Ms. Akelaitis also works in permitting, compliance, defending environmental prosecutions and environmental assessment regulatory and litigation issues. She appeared as co-counsel in the B.C. Environmental Appeal Board case Worthington MacKenzie Inc. and Daniel Alexander White v. Director, Environmental Management (January 19, 2010). Ms. Akelaitis has also had significant experience working in foreign tort issues concerning environmental law matters. Ms. Akelaitis has acted for a range of Canada’s leading corporations and in 2014 Ms. Akelaitis acted for the Nisga’a Nation in litigation involving important aboriginal law and environmental law issues.

Ms. Akelaitis has appeared before all levels of British Columbia Courts. Together with Mr. Letcher, she acted for the successful plaintiff in a leading case related to “economic force majeure” in the context of a contract for the supply of caustic soda (Domtar v. Univar, 2011 BCSC 1776.)

Ms. Akelaitis is recognized for environmental law in Best Lawyers in Canada 2017. She has authored and presented “Provincial Environmental Law, Regulations and Policy” and “Groundwater, Regulation and Quality Control”. In November of 2013, she presented a paper on allocating contaminated sites environmental risk at the CLEBC Environmental Law Conference 2013 and in March 2015, she delivered a paper on Expert Evidence at the National CBA Environmental Energy and Resources Summit on Environment in the Courtroom in Calgary. In September 2015, she was a keynote speaker at the International Odour Management Conference in Toronto.

*Personal Law Corporation