Directors
The Board of Directors comprises leaders in business, academia, the various professions, and the dispute resolution field. The Bylaws provide that the Board can include two representatives from each; Faculty of Law of any university in British Columbia; Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and the Ministry of Attorney General. Each director serves a one-year term and is eligible for re-appointment upon the expiry of a term.
Presently the Board includes:
Joe McArthur, KC, FCIArb
Chair, Administration Committee
Chair, Nominating and Corporate Governance
Government Affairs
Joe is an arbitration partner with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. He regularly advises on domestic and international arbitrations as counsel and is available for appointment as arbitrator. He is a member of the Domestic and International Arbitration Panels of the Vancouver International Arbitration Centre and the arbitration panels of other international arbitration institutions.
Joe’s domestic and international arbitration counsel work has focussed on significant infrastructure, mining and commercial contracts. He has led numerous commercial arbitration counsel teams in arbitrations across Canada and internationally including claims in excess of $350 million.
Joe is a Fellow and a Chartered Arbitrator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is the National Vice- Chair of CIArb’s Canada Branch and Chair of CIArb’s Vancouver Chapter.
Joe has been appointed arbitrator in arbitrations administered by VanIAC, ICDR and the ICC, as well as ad hoc arbitrations. Recent representative appointments as arbitrator include domestic and international arbitrations involving a range of commercial activities including mining, sports sponsorships, manufacturing, cannabis production, commercial produce agreements and infrastructure. As arbitrator Joe has issued a number of final awards, together with decisions on interim measures and jurisdictional objections.
Joe is Chair of VanIAC’s Rules Committee and a member of the Indigenous Affairs and Strategic Planning Committees.
Sarah McEachern
Chair, Strategic Planning
Nominating and Corporate Governance
Sarah McEachern is the regional manager of commercial and construction disputes at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP’s Vancouver office. She has extensive experience in all aspects of domestic and international commercial arbitration disputes and acts as both counsel and arbitrator. She has acted or advised on proceedings under the rules of the ICC, ICDR, AAA, SCC, HKIAC, and VanIAC.
Sarah sits on the Advisory Board to the Young Canadian Arbitration Practitioner (YCAP), on the Steering Committee of the IBA Arb40, and was previously a representative for North America to the Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG) of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). She has also participated in the Steering Committee of the Young Attorneys in Dispute Resolution (CPR) and is on the Editorial Board of the Commercial Litigation and Arbitration Review. She writes and presents frequently on topics related to arbitration and recently co-authored the online guide Technology Resources for Arbitration Practitioners for the IBA.
She has received national and international recognition by clients and peers as a leading practitioner in dispute resolution and arbitration in particular. She is recognized as a National Leader in Arbitration in Canada, 2020 (Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration) and since 2018 as a Future Leader. She is recognized as a Star (and previously a Rising Star) in the Lexpert Guides. In 2020 she was the recipient of a Lexpert Rising Star (previously known as Top 40 under 40). She has also been recognized in 2020 (and since 2017) by Benchmark Canada.
David E. Gruber, FCIArb
Chair, Indigenous Affairs Committee
Chair, Government Affairs
Finance and Risk Committee
David Gruber is Co-Head of Bennett Jones LLP's Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department. He practices in the areas of corporate/commercial litigation, arbitration, restructuring and insolvency, and class actions. As well as his court experience, David has significant experience as counsel in both international and domestic arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution processes, and in negotiating and advising on dispute settlements. He has acted for corporations of all sizes, professional firms, governments, public and quasi-public institutions and for private individuals.
David has presented and written on arbitration topics in several forums, and is an adjunct professor at the Allard School of Law at UBC, where he has taught administrative law and the law of damages.
David completed an undergraduate degree in architecture and worked for a time on the editorial staff of an architectural magazine before entering law school. Following graduation, he articled and practiced with a prominent litigation boutique in Victoria, British Columbia. He did a master’s degree in law at the University of Cambridge in 1998. Since then he has practiced with prominent firms in Vancouver and Toronto. In 2010 David was awarded a diploma in International Commercial Arbitration and became a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is also a member of the Western Canada Commercial Arbitration Society.
Lucas Terpkosh, CPA, CBV
Chair, Finance and Risk Committee
Administration Committee
Lucas Terpkosh is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a Chartered Business Valuator, with over 10 years of professional experience providing business valuation services. Lucas works at Blair Mackay Mynett Valuations Inc., a boutique valuation services firm in Vancouver.
Lucas specializes in business valuations for litigation matters such as matrimonial disputes, shareholder disputes and wills variation claims, as well as for non-litigation matters such as corporate reorganizations and other estate planning initiatives. He has also prepared expert reports regarding the income available to a spouse for child and spousal support purposes (typically referred to as Guideline Income reports).
Lucas has been a member of the CBV Institute’s Audit and Finance Committee since 2018 and was named the CBV Institute’s Ambassador of the Year in 2023.
Alexandra Mitretodis
Chair, Rules Committee
Strategic Planning
Alexandra Mitretodis is a litigation and dispute resolution lawyer in Vancouver with a practice in domestic and international arbitration, class actions, and commercial litigation. She is named as a "Future Leader" in arbitration by Who's Who Legal and a "Rising Star" in dispute resolution by Legal 500. Alexandra works on complex files that often have a multi-jurisdictional or international dimensions.
Alexandra has appeared as counsel before all levels of court in British Columbia, as well as the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada.
Knowledgeable of a variety of arbitration rules, Alexandra’s expertise includes cases with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the Vanvouver International Arbitration Centre (VanIAC), and the Fruit and Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation (DRC).
Alexandra is fluent in English and French and has a reading knowledge of Spanish.
Alexandra also teaches Civil Procedure as an Adjunct Professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at The University of British Columbia.
Prof. Bradford W. Morse
Indigenous Affairs Committee
Government Affairs
B.A. (Rutgers Univ), LL.B. (UBC), LL.M. (Osgoode Hall Law School, York Univ). He is a Professor of Law in the Faculty of Law, Thompson Rivers Univ, Kamloops, B.C. and Dean from 2015-19. He was Dean of Law at Te Piringa - Faculty of Law, Univ of Waikato (NZ) 2009-2014 & continuing as part-time Professor of Law (2014 - ); Professor of Law, Univ of Ottawa from 1976 – 2013 and Professor Emeritus since 2014.
Brad has previously served as Executive Director of the Native Legal Task Force of B. C. 1974-75; Research Director, Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba 1988-91; Chief of Staff to Hon. Ronald A. Irwin, Canadian Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs 1993-96; Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship in 1997 at Oklahoma City Univ. Publications: over 100 books, articles, book chapters and commission reports. He has been a legal advisor and negotiator for many First Nations and national and regional Aboriginal organizations in Canada since 1974, as well as a Consultant to various royal commissions, governments and Indigenous organisations in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He has also served as a Chief Federal Negotiator for Canada. He has appeared as an Expert Witness before the Waitangi Tribunal (NZ), Parliamentary and Legislative Committees (Canada) and other administrative tribunals predominantly on Indigenous rights and environmental law issues as well as served as a Visiting Professor at many law schools.
Ken Duke
Finance and Risk Committee
Administration Committee
Ken is BC Hydro’s Senior Vice-President & General Counsel, responsible for Legal Services and the Freedom of Information Coordinating Office. Ken joined BC Hydro’s Legal Services department in 2008 and was appointed General Counsel in 2017. Ken leads a team that supports the Board and Executive Team, provides legal advice and services to all aspects of BC Hydro’s business and manages compliance with access to information and privacy laws. A member of the BC Law Society, Ken has practiced as a lawyer since 1996. He has a law degree and Masters of Public Administration from the University of Victoria. Before BC Hydro, Ken worked for a Vancouver law firm and Alcan.
Joanne Luu, FCIArb
Chair, Panel Committee
Strategic Planning
Joanne Luu is a partner at Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP in Calgary. Her practice focuses on complex and high stakes corporate and commercial disputes, with particular expertise in energy and joint venture matters. Joanne is well-versed in all aspects of arbitration and litigation, having appeared as counsel on numerous arbitration panels, several high-profile Alberta Securities Commission matters, and at all levels of court. Recently, Joanne appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada to address novel questions relating to the interplay between arbitration and insolvency law (Peace River Hydro Partners v. Petrowest Corp., 2022 SCC 41). Joanne is actively involved in the arbitration community. In addition to being a regular contributor of the Arbitration Matters blog on Canadian arbitration cases, she has published book chapters in The Leading Practitioners’ Guide to International Oil & Gas Arbitration and Arbitration World. She also sits as a director on the Board of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Canada Branch). In addition to her robust counsel practice, Joanne also sits as arbitrator. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is one of 12 Canadians named to the Arbitration Place's inaugural NextGen Arbitrators Roster. Joanne is a recognized leader in her field, having been named by the Legal 500 Canada as a Next Generation Partner in Dispute Resolution: Alberta (2022-2023) and previously as a Rising Star in Dispute Resolution (2020-2021); by Who's Who Legal as an Arbitration as a Future Leader: Partner (2021-2023) in its Global Guide and as a recommended lawyer Arbitration (2023) in its Canadian Guide; and by Best Lawyers in Canada for her work in Corporate and Commercial Litigation (2021-2023).
Yarden Gershony
Panel Committee
Strategic Planning
Yarden Gershony is a partner at Rush Ihas Hardwick LLP, a litigation boutique based in Kelowna, B.C. As counsel, he practices complex commercial litigation and arbitration. Yarden also serves as arbitrator in commercial disputes across British Columbia.
Prior to commencing his career in British Columbia, Yarden practiced litigation and international commercial arbitration at Shearman & Sterling LLP, based in New York. Upon his return to Canada, Yarden first practiced with McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Vancouver before joining Rush Ihas Hardwick LLP. Yarden has appeared before a large variety of courts and tribunals, including the B.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, the Alberta Court of King’s Bench, the State and Federal Courts in New York, on briefs before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, and before numerous arbitration tribunals (ad hoc and administered) in North America and Europe.
As an arbitrator, Yarden has experience in shareholder and partnership matters, defamation, breaches of contract, damages quantification, commercial leasing disputes, and licensing disputes.
In addition to serving on VanIAC’s board, Yarden is a director and the past president of the Downtown Kelowna Association and he sits on the board of the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation. He regularly contributes to continuing legal education programs across B.C., including as a lecturer for CLEBC and the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch.
Mark Oulton
Indigenous Affairs Committee
Panel Committee
Mark Oulton is senior litigation counsel practicing general commercial and administrative litigation with a focus on forestry related matters. For over 20 years, Mark has appeared regularly as counsel before the Forest Appeals Commission, all levels of the British Columbia Courts and the Supreme Court of Canada. He also has an active commercial arbitration and mediation practice, representing clients in all manner of disputes. Mark’s focus is on solving his clients’ problems, whether through advocacy, advice, litigation or alternative forms of dispute resolution. Mark’s greatest reward professionally has been and remains the long-term relationships that he has developed with his clients and colleagues. He finds pleasure in the many opportunities this profession provides to continue learning.
Julie Hopkins, FCIArb.
Administration Committee
Rules Committee
Julie is an independent commercial arbitrator based in Calgary, Alberta, and associated with Western Arbitration Chambers. With over 30 years of experience, Julie practiced commercial litigation, arbitration, and administrative law at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP before transitioning to her current role as a full-time arbitrator.
Her experience spans across various industries, including electricity generation and transmission, oil and gas, construction, aviation, real estate development, healthcare and cannabis. Julie serves as an arbitrator in both domestic and international matters and is well-versed in multi-party disputes.
In addition to her arbitration practice, Julie is actively involved in various professional activities. She currently serves as the Chair of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Canada Branch, and is a member of several arbitration institutions and panels, including the Western Canada Commercial Arbitration Society and CPR's Panels of Distinguished Neutrals. For further details on Julie's background and achievements, please visit our website.
James Plotkin, Q.Arb.
Chair,CIIDRC Committee
James is a bilingual disputes lawyer based in Gowling WLG’s Ottawa office, James brings extensive and relevant expertise to the VanIAC Board. His counsel practice focuses on commercial litigation and arbitration (domestic and international), intellectual property litigation, and administrative law. James has argued before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Courts, all levels of court in Ontario, and before various arbitral and administrative tribunals. As an adjudicator, James has been nominated and appointed in commercial arbitrations, and is a member of VanIAC’s commercial arbitration roster, among others. He also is heavily involved in domain name dispute resolution, both as counsel and as a panelist on the CIIDRC and Resolution Canada rosters.
James is a prolific author and commentator, primarily in the areas of arbitration and IP. He is the recipient of VanIAC’s 2022 Outstanding Book and Article Award for an article on appeals from arbitral awards, and a co-authored commentary text on B.C.’s international arbitration legislation. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Intellectual Property Review and has served on its editorial board for over a decade. For further details on James' background and achievements, please visit our website.