Michael J. Donaldson, KC*

Partner & General Counsel

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* Professional Corporation

Mike is an experienced litigator known for his strong understanding of business, determined advocacy, and creative problem solving. He has been repeatedly recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers Canada, Lexpert, Best Lawyers, Benchmark, and others for many years for his work in arbitration, complex commercial litigation, and appellate advocacy.

Mike has argued over 50 appeals before the Supreme Court of Canada, Alberta Court of Appeal, Federal Court of Appeal, and various regulatory appeal tribunals, and has conducted dozens of significant private commercial arbitrations and complex civil trials, as well as cases before the securities commissions in Alberta and British Columbia.

He has handled claims in the electricity, oil & gas, midstream, petrochemical, and pulp & paper industries, in real estate development, in professional negligence, and in administrative and municipal law. Several of his arbitration cases before the courts have defined the jurisdictional boundaries between the courts and arbitration panels and have established important principles regarding enforcement and annulment of arbitration awards.

Mike also serves as Lawson Lundell’s General Counsel, is an adjunct professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, and has taught effective writing, legal drafting, and written advocacy courses to lawyers and businesspeople in law firms, industry, government and regulatory bodies. Mike began his legal career with a clerkship at the Alberta Court of Appeal. He holds an LLM from Columbia Law School, where he was a James Kent Scholar in 2017. In December of 2024, Alberta’s Minister of Justice appointed Mike to the Alberta Rules of Court Committee for a seven-year term.

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Experience

Litigation – Representative Examples

SCC decision establishing that ordinary limitation periods apply to actions to enforce international arbitration awards that are subject to the New York Convention. Yugraneft Corporation v. Rexx Management Corporation (2008), 297 D.L.R. (4th) 168 (Alta. C.A.), aff'd 2010 SCC 19 (S.C.C.)
SCC decision establishing the standard of review in a challenge to the validity of regulations post-Vavilov. TransAlta Generation Partnership v. Alberta, 2024 SCC 37
$160 million damage award for breach of an agreement to sell land earmarked for a transformational multi-phase, multi-year mixed-use development on the edge of downtown Calgary. Remington Development Corporation v Canadian Pacific Railway Company, 2022 ABKB 692
Court of Appeal decision establishing the standard of review for an application to set aside an Alberta arbitration award for procedural unfairness, the test for leave to appeal a lower court’s refusal to set aside an award, and the standard for a rehearing when a complaint is made about the conduct of one of three judges on an appeal panel. ENMAX Energy Corporation v TransAlta Generation Partnership, 2022 ABCA 206 (and related decisions)
Application to have the Court of Appeal reconsider its controversial decision in New Era v. Balance Bar . While the Court declined to reconsider New Era, it instead suggested amendment of the Arbitration Act, which the Alberta Law Reform Institute recommended in 2014, citing Lamb in its Report. Lamb v. AlanRidge Homes Ltd., et al (2009), 76 C.P.C. (6th) 248 (Alta. C.A.), application for leave to appeal dismissed April 29, 2010, Docket No. 33477 (S.C.C.)
Court of Appeal decision confirming that ordinary principles of res judicata apply to commercial arbitration awards, overturning a Court of Queen’s Bench decision that had determined otherwise. ENMAX Energy Corporation v TransAlta Generation Partnership 2015 ABCA 383, application for leave to appeal dismissed May 12, 2016, Docket No. 36846 (S.C.C.)
An early case on the contractual duty of good faith, which decided that a seller of unsubdivided industrial land did not breach its contractual duties by refusing to agree to extend the closing date when the intended subdivision encountered unexpected municipal planning delays. Strategy Summit Ltd. v. Remington Development Corp. (2012), 523 A.R. 329
Lead counsel to the Non-Status Indian Association of Alberta for the final decade of one of the longest-running cases in the history of the Federal Court. Two first nations challenged Bill C-31, the 1985 amendments to the Indian Act which reversed, in part, the discriminatory provisions under which women who married non-Band members lost their band membership and Indian Act status. The case involved dozens of complex procedural applications, at least 9 appeals to the Federal Court of Appeal, a related appeal to the Alberta Court of Appeal, and two applications to remove the trial judge for reasonable apprehension of bias. Sawridge Band v. Canada (numerous reported decisions)

Commercial Arbitration – Representative Examples

Counsel to a producer in a contract dispute with gas plant operator over contract terms, processing fees, and allocation of plant operating costs. Case began with a successful emergency injunction application in Court to prevent seizure of production by operator pending arbitration.
Counsel to a midstream facility owner in a dispute with co-owner over facility access and capacity, contractual interpretation, facility maintenance, and obligations to process third-party gas.
Counsel to TransAlta Corporation in a successful claim to an additional $60,000,000 termination fee from the Balancing Pool as a result of the termination of the Sundance B & C Power Purchase Arrangements.
Counsel to a pulp & paper mill owner in an arbitration to re-set the pricing formula in a long term supply agreement, successfully avoiding supplier’s efforts to significantly increase pricing.
Successfully pursued a very complex force majeure claim for a power plant owner facing approximately $170,000,000 in outage penalties. Case proceeded to three-week hearing with over 30 witnesses (mainly experts), culminating in an award and an unsuccessful attempt by the opposing parties to appeal, and then to set aside, the Award.
Counsel to majority shareholder in a compulsory buy-out and valuation of deceased shareholder’s shares in a major private construction company. Issues included whether arbitration was precluded by an expert determination under the unanimous shareholders’ agreement.
Counsel to hydro plant owner in a dispute with a customer over ownership of renewable energy credits.
Counsel in an arbitration over the consequences of Statistics Canada changes to indices used to escalate charges in sales contracts.
Co-counsel to a facility owner who successfully claimed force majeure and defended a significant construction delay claim, avoiding significant contractual penalties.
Counsel to a multinational commodities firm in a dispute with a customer over allocation of refunds from US biodiesel credits.
Counsel to an oil & gas producer in a dispute with Metis settlement over terms of a Royalty agreement.
Co-counsel to a consortium of owners of offshore production permits who challenged a government’s redetermination and disallowance of their deductions under a royalty agreement.

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