Workplace Fatality Cases 2024

Course Chairs
Eric V. Gottardi, KC — Peck and Company, Vancouver
Tony Paisana — Peck and Company, Vancouver

About the Course Chairs
Eric Gottardi practices primarily in the area of criminal defence, focusing on appellate and extradition work. Earlier in his career, Eric clerked at the Court of Appeal for Ontario. After being called to the bar, he joined the firm of Peck and Company, becoming a partner in 2009. He has appeared as counsel in all levels of court in BC and in the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2009, he was called to the bar in Ontario as a special prosecutor. Eric has also worked as a special prosecutor in BC, most recently appearing in the perjury trials of the four RCMP officers involved in the death of Robert Dziekanski. In 2019, he was elected a Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers and in 2020, he was appointed a King's Counsel.  

Tony Paisana is a partner at Peck and Company Barristers. He has argued cases at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Tony practices predominantly in the area of criminal law, including acting as Crown counsel in special prosecutions involving potential conflicts of interest with the BC Prosecution Service.

Tony is the past chair of the CBA's National Criminal Justice Section. In addition, he is a founding member of the Criminal Defence Advocacy Society and a supervising lawyer with the UBC Innocence Project.

Through his work with the CBA, Tony has testified many times before Parliament regarding criminal law policy and legislation. He also periodically authors articles and makes presentations dealing with emerging criminal law issues. He is the editor of CanLII’s Criminal Law eBook. For the past several years, Tony has been an adjunct professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, UBC where he teaches a course on preventing wrongful convictions

Faculty
Dennis D. Chimich, MSc, PEng — MEA Forensic Engineers & Scientists, Richmond 
Andrew Wood — Harris & Company LLP, Vancouver

Click here for full faculty bios

• the process and the parties
• advising your client

• managing the unfolding file
• counsel's role
• the ultimate question: for cause or for prosecution?

• the regulatory investigation and record
• the criminal investigation and record
• evidentiary issues