Nicole Chang

Profile

Nicole Chang is a Commercial Litigator, and is the Chair of the firm’s Class Action Group in B.C., and the Chair of the firm’s Estate Litigation Group. Nicole is skilled at managing complex multi-party litigation, and applies a pragmatic solutions-oriented approach to assist her clients in achieving desirable outcomes in a timely and effective manner.

Nicole has appeared before the Supreme Court of B.C., the B.C. Court of Appeal, the Federal Court of Canada, the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA), and the B.C. Securities Commission.

Nicole has a Masters in Tax Law, and is called to the bar in British Columbia and Ontario.

Nicole is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin.

Class Action

Nicole handles a broad spectrum of regional and national scope class action matters in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.

Nicole has managed class actions in different subject areas, including in product liability, financial services, municipal liability, natural disasters, and abuse.

Nicole has experience with all aspects of the life cycle of a class action claim from pre-certification to settlement approval, including contentious certification hearings, document production motions, complex multi-day mediations, appeals, and settlement approval hearings.

Commercial Litigation

Nicole works with real estate developers, investors, and directors, in resolving business disputes.

Nicole has represented real estate developers and investors in disputes over the management of real estate development projects, including conflicts between the General Partner and the Limited Partners, accounting, and other shareholder disputes.

Nicole also works with investors and directors in proxy fights, corporate management disputes, and contentious company wind ups and dissolution. Nicole has commenced Oppression proceedings, Derivative Actions, and successfully obtained court orders to wind up companies and distribute their net assets.

Nicole also commonly acts as Litigation Counsel for publicly-traded companies in Plans of Arrangement.

Estate Litigation

Nicole applies her extensive commercial experience in assisting families in contentious transition of the family business. Nicole has negotiated the transition of the family business between parents and children, and between siblings in deadlock over the management or wind up of family companies.

Nicole also acts for Executors in passing of accounts issues, asset recovery, and other contentious estate issues.

Nicole also has extensive experience in Wills Variation claims, both on behalf of disinherited claimants, and beneficiaries resisting Wills Variation Actions.

Nicole understands that disputes between family members are challenging and strives to achieve an amicable resolution to assist the family in obtaining closure and moving forward after the loss of their loved ones.

Recent Reasons for Judgment

Some of Nicole’s representative works include:

Federal Court of Canada and Court of Appeal Decisions

• Esposito v. Esposito, 2022 BCCA 51
• Jiang v. Peoples Trust Company, 2022 BCCA 40
• Intel Auto Trade Inc. (Go Luxury Cars) v. Ocean Network Express (Canada) Inc., 2022 FC 1107
• Dong v. Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, 2021 BCCA 483

Supreme Court Decisions

• Liptrot v. Vancouver College Limited, 2023 BCSC 346 – class action certification relating to historic abuse.
• Liptrot v. Vancouver College Limited, 2022 BCSC 1851
• Liptrot v. Vancouver College Limited, 2022 BCSC 1762
• Jiang v. Peoples Trust Company, 2021 BCSC 2193 – document production application in a class action matter relating to prepaid credit cards. At issue was the disclosure of voluminous marketing materials, and financial documents.
• Jiang v. Peoples Trust Company, 2020 BCSC 1644 – class action matter dealing with the content and plan for disseminating the notice of certification and notice of proposed settlement.
• Esposito v. 304768 B.C. Ltd., 2021 BCSC 961 – successful in seeking the wind up and dissolution of the family business in the midst of a deadlock between two siblings.
• Golden Predator Mining Corp. (Re), 2021 BCSC 982 – court approval of a reduction of capital transaction.
• Dong v. Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, 2020 BCSC 2018 – successful in dismissing the Plaintiff’s claims of Negligence and Defamation.
• Re Sangha, 2018 BCSC 54 – acting on behalf of a beneficiary contesting the executor’s estate accounting, and executor’s fees.

Regulatory Decisions

• Re Jacob Cohen, 2023 BCSECCOM 317
• Re Liu, 2023 CIRO 36

Nicole is also the Co-Chair of the firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Group.