Iain Peck
Tel: 416.594.4672 Email: ipeck@sblegal.caIain listens to clients’ legal problems and then develops and executes a strategy to solve them in the most practical and cost-effective manner.
Informations about
Biography
IAIN PECK is an experienced lawyer with a complex dispute resolution practice.
Iain listens to clients’ legal problems and then works with them to develop and execute a strategy to solve their problems in the most practical and cost-effective manner. Iain is comfortable taking his clients’ cases to trial, but also effective at negotiating appropriate solutions to complex problems.
Iain concentrates his practice in professional liability claims for engineers, construction litigation, product liability litigation and litigation which involves complex and technical issues with machinery, industrial equipment, environmental contamination and environmental clean-up.
Iain principally acts on behalf of engineers, large and medium size general contractors, architects, other construction professionals and small municipalities, regularly handling claims against directors and officers made under construction lien legislation. He also acts for contractors and suppliers in recovery proceedings including Construction Act claims and Construction Act breach of trust claims.
Iain defends environmental claims, particularly with respect to contaminated land and clean-up. He also regularly defends manufacturers against claims that their products were dangerous or defective.
Iain is a member of the Canadian Bar Association and the Construction Section of the Ontario Bar Association. In 2021, he was invited to join the exclusive Construction Lawyers Society of America, an invitation-only, selective and limited-membership international association of the world’s best construction lawyers. In 2024 Iain was recognized by Best Lawyers.
Representative Work
Iain has been involved in some of Ontario’s largest construction disputes, including:
- Defence of design professionals involving some of Ontario’s largest infrastructure projects, specifically in new transportation infrastructure and new health care infrastructure.
- Defence of general contractors involved in some of Ontario’s largest infrastructure projects, specifically in new transportation and new health care infrastructure.
Iain defends several manufacturers in a variety of different product liability claims where defective products are alleged to have caused property damage:
- Successfully argued a summary motion dismissing a claim a former lessor of a truck was still the legal owner of the truck at the time it was involved in an accident. Decision is at: https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2023/2023onsc3725/2023onsc3725.html?resultIndex=4. Dyck v Kent & Essex Mutual Insurance Company et al, 2023 ONSC 3725.
- Successfully presented argument that plaintiffs’ damages claim was excessive and unsupported resulting in plaintiffs’ position on damages being rejected. Gallo v. 1884735 Ontario Inc., 2021 ONSC 4122.
- Successfully acted for a utility company and its insurer in an action to recover damages caused by the transformer’s malfunction and partial explosion. Hydro Hawkesbury v. ABB AB and Pioneer Transformers Ltd., 2019 ONSC 3927. Upheld at Ontario Court of Appeal (2020 ONCA 53).
- Motion to dismiss or stay a lawsuit on the grounds of a covenant to insure and assumption of risk in a significant construction claim for nearly $200,000,000 of construction defects. Freyssinet Canada Limitee v. Dragados Canada Inc. et al, 2017 ONSC 3914.
- Successful summary judgment motion argued on behalf of an engineering firm in which the court granted summary judgment despite conflicting expert opinions. Lapsker RJ Burnside & Associates, 2017 ONSC 7053.
- Successfully defended Pizza Nova in a claim brought by a franchise owner before the HRTO seeking $10,000,000 in damages for supposed lost income and destroyed franchise due to supposed discrimination and breach of contract. Zhou Pizza Nova, 2016 HRTO1166.
- Successfully resisted a motion by a subrogating insurer which was attempting to force an arbitration pursuant to a CCDC contract against our client when, at the same time, the subrogating insurer had started an action against many other parties seeking the same damages. If the motion had not been successful, our client would have had to fight the subrogating insurer’s claim alone and then, if unsuccessful in the defence, fight for contribution from the other parties at a later date, prolonging the dispute significantly and increasing cost. Canadian Medical Association EllisDon Corporation, 2015 ONSC 3575.
- Successfully struck out a claim made against a Texas trial lawyer in Ontario related to her alleged trial conduct in a Texas trial against an Ontario resident and his company. Decision upheld on appeal to Ontario Court of Appeal. Kiani v. Smith, 2015 ONCA 232.
- Successfully resisted summary judgment brought by demolition contractor to have general contractor’s third-party claim dismissed. The court reaffirmed the principal that where the plaintiff’s claim involves issues related to the third party, the third-party action cannot be dismissed without the findings of fact in the main action being made first. Soncin Construction Core Excavation (unreported SCJ December, 9, 2014). Motion by the unsuccessful third party to seek leave to the Divisional Court was dismissed, 2015 ONSC 1406.
- Successful judgment motion dismissing a claim by a drug company who had approximately $9 million of vaccines damaged when its storage facility’s refrigeration system malfunctioned. The action was dismissed on the basis of a covenant to insure given by the drug company, which the storage facility and the contractors responsible for the construction and maintenance of the storage facility could shelter under. Our firm defended the design-build general contractor. Sanofi Pasteur Limited v. UPS SCS, Inc., 2015 ONCA 88
Speaking Engagements
- Transit Case Study | Strategies for Preventing, Mitigating and Eliminating Environmental Risks in Construction Projects, presented with Marty Venalainen, Canadian Institute’s 13th Annual National Symposium on Managing Risk in Construction Contracts & Projects, 2021.
- Roles and Responsibilities of Design Professionals. Osgoode Certificate in Construction Law, 2013.
- Offers custom in-house presentations for clients on request.