Carina Chiu

Carina Chiu is based in the Vancouver office, with a practice focused on complex, corporate commercial disputes and commercial leasing matters.

Her corporate commercial experience includes shareholder and partnership disputes, breach of contract claims, breach of confidence claims, as well as fraud and civil conspiracy actions.

Acting for both landlords and tenants in a wide variety of commercial leasing matters, Carina’s experience includes acting as counsel for a commercial landlord in a well-publicized matter successfully requiring the department store retailer to pay full rent during the pandemic.

Carina has extensive experience obtaining and resisting injunctive relief for clients.

An experienced litigator, she has appeared in the British Columbia Supreme Court and the Provincial Court of British Columbia. She has acted in various commercial and international arbitration matters under BC legislation, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Rules and the ADR Chambers Rules.

She is also a member of McMillan’s Transportation Group, acting on behalf of shippers seeking statutory relief under the federal Transportation Act.

Clients rely on Carina for her thorough, yet pragmatic advice.

Expertise

Industries

Practices

Representative Matters

Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp Inc. (MLMP) in its level of service complaint against Canadian National Railway Company (CN) culminating in Canadian Transportation Agency Letter Decision No. CONF-R-2023, including successful defense of CN’s motion for leave to appeal that decision, and the Agency’s determination of expenses payable to MLMP due to CN’s service failures in Agency Decision-CONF-R-9-2023 (2023).
Successful application for summary trial for forestry company, resulting in judgment in excess of $1.4 million, relating to interpretation of fixed volume contract.
Successful defence of arbitral claim for commercial tenant, in relation to interpretation of costs sharing provision under commercial leasing contract, resulting in dismissal of all claims against client. Decision upheld by British Columbia Court of Appeal.
Successful defence of application for cannabis company to overturn garnishing order obtained on ex parte basis in the amount of $600,000.
Successful application to lift settlement privilege and compel production of certain documents relevant to litigation.
Counsel for publicly traded healthcare technology company in arbitration in relation to breach of first refusal under services agreement.
Counsel for software provider in international arbitration in relation to breach of software licensing agreement.
Counsel for winery group in respect of valuation dispute relating to alleged bias of valuator in context of share buy-out under share purchase agreements.

News

Rankings & Recognitions

Recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada (2025) as “One to Watch” in the areas of Corporate Commercial Litigation and Real Estate Law
Recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada (2024) as a “One to Watch” in the area of Corporate and Commercial Litigation and Real Estate Law
Recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada (2023) as a “One to Watch” in the area of Corporate and Commercial Litigation and Real Estate Law
Recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada (2022) as a “One to Watch” in the area of Corporate and Commercial Litigation

Community Involvement

International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) – Member
Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL) BC – Member
Access Pro Bono, Barristers’ Roster and Tribunal Program – Volunteer Counsel

Directorships & Affiliations

Canadian Bar Association British Columbia (CBABC), Civil Litigation – Member-at-Large
NutritionLink Services Society – President (Former Chair of Grants Committee)

Education & Admissions

2018

Called to the Alberta bar

2018

Called to the British Columbia bar

2017

JD University of Alberta

2013

BA (Honours) University of Calgary

Publications

“C. court denies injunction reversing football team cancellation,” This article was originally published by Law360Canada (www.law360.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. (July 7, 2023)
“Cullen Commission on money laundering, part two,” This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. (July 27, 2022)
“Cullen Commission report on money laundering, part one,” This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. (July 25, 2022)
“Compelled Disclosure of Confidential Information in Patient Safety Research,” ResearchGate (November 2016)
“Violent Video Game Players and Non-Players Differ on Facial Emotion Recognition,” ReserachGate (August 2015)

Insights (12 Posts)View More

Free Speech on Trial: Significant Damages Awarded Against YouTuber Liable in Defamation

Discussion of I Buy Beauty LLC v Dong, 2024 BCSC 815 of British Columbia Supreme Court in which professional YouTuber found liable for defamation.

Jul 8, 2024

Current Litigation and Dispute Resolution Trends in British Columbia

McMillan Vancouver's Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group comments on current disputes trends.

Mar 28, 2024

A Word of Caution: Company Liable for Misrepresentations Made by Chatbot

Tribunal finds that a website chatbot is not a separate legal entity and holds company liable for the chatbot's misrepresentations.

Mar 4, 2024

Lexology Panoramic’s Rail Transport Guide 2024

The 2024 edition of Lexology Panoramic’s Rail Transport stands as the foremost and extensive repository of information on global railroad laws.

Feb 1, 2024

A “Thumbs-Up” to Emojis in Contract Interpretation: Applicability of the South West Decision to British Columbia

Summary of South West Terminal Ltd. v Achter Land, 2023 SKKB 116 and applicability to British Columbia.

Aug 15, 2023

Money in the Bank: Guidance from B.C. Court of Appeal on Characterizing Funds as an Investment or Loan

Case study on British Columbia Court of Appeal decision of Broer v. Multiguide GmbH, 2023 BCCA 134 in characterizing funds as investment or shareholder loan.

Jul 25, 2023

Phantom Footnotes: First Canadian Court Issues Direction on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Court Submissions

An overview of the Court of King's Bench of Manitoba's practice direction on the use of artificial intelligence in the preparation of court submissions.

Jun 28, 2023

Fourth and Long: B.C. Supreme Court Rejects Players’ Injunction Application to Reverse Simon Fraser University’s Decision to Discontinue its Football Program

Kremler v Simon Fraser University, 2023 BCSC: British Columbia Supreme Court dismisses SFU football players' application for interlocutory injunction.

Jun 26, 2023

The Sky is the Limit: B.C. Court of Appeal Upholds $2 Million Summary Judgment Award for Breach of Contract

British Columbia Court of Appeal upholds British Columbia Supreme Court $2 million summary judgment award for breach of contract.

Apr 20, 2023

New AML Requirements for Luxury Goods Likely: The Cullen Commission on Money Laundering Recommendations Respecting Luxury Goods and the Automotive Sector

Cullen Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia’s AML recommendations for the luxury goods sector (including automotive) are discussed.

Jul 8, 2022

Excess Baggage: Round Two of the Westjet Baggage Fee Class Action

Trotman v WestJet Airlines Ltd, 2022 BCCA 22- appeal of class action certification against Westjet relating to charging of baggage fees.

Feb 11, 2022

In the Bag: Court Certifies Class Action for Westjet Baggage Fees

Jan 29, 2021

Deals & Cases (1 Posts)

McMillan Successfully Secures Compensation for Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp Inc.

McMillan’s Rail Transportation group filed a successful level of service complaint on behalf of Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp Inc. (“MLMP”) against Canadian National Railway Company (“CN”) decided in MLMP’s favour by the Canadian Transportation Agency (“CTA”) in February 2023.

Oct 17, 2023