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Patrick Roche

Patrick Roche

Partner
About

Patrick Roche is the head of the Calgary office Litigation, Arbitration and Investigation Department. He ‎practises litigation and arbitration with a focus on the power, energy and construction sectors.‎

Patrick has extensive experience in Alberta's electricity industry. He is an authority on the interpretation and application of Power Purchase Arrangements and on the partial deregulation of Alberta's electricity industry, as well as on the drafting and interpretation of arbitral and dispute resolution clauses. He has appeared as counsel in every Power Purchase Arrangement force majeure arbitration since 2005.

Patrick has conducted numerous complex, multi-million dollar arbitrations involving electrical generating plants and has worked closely with operation and maintenance experts in most critical plant systems.

In addition, Patrick has acted in numerous construction litigation and arbitration disputes, including sour gas pipeline failures, construction delays and workmanship claims in the commercial and condominium sectors. He also has an active corporate litigation practice involving shareholder disputes, Securities Act charges, injunctions, and Plans of Arrangement.

Patrick has appeared before the Alberta Utilities Commission, the Alberta Securities Commission, the Municipal Government Board and all levels of court in Alberta.

Bar admissionsAlberta, 1998

EXPERIENCE

Energy ‎

  • Lead counsel in a $167CAD arbitration involving allegations of mechanical failure of a stator ‎‎(generator) in an electrical generating station resulting in a 216 day outage.
  • Co-counsel in an arbitration involving allegations of corrosion-induced failure of boiler systems ‎in an electrical generating station leading to a claim of termination of the Power Purchase ‎Arrangement.
  • Lead plaintiff counsel in a Court of Queen’s Bench action involving the catastrophic failure of a ‎sour gas pipeline.‎
  • Lead counsel in an arbitration involving allegations of mechanical failure of generator links in an ‎electrical generating station.
  • Counsel in an arbitration involving allegations of force majeure in relation to overheating of the ‎generator core in an electrical generating station.
  • Counsel in an arbitration involving allegations that oil and gas drilling caused an incursion into ‎the client’s production zone.
  • Advised client in relation to a claim of force majeure arising from failure of a turbine at an ‎electrical generating station.
  • Counsel in an arbitration involving allegations of force majeure relating to low water conditions ‎at an electrical generating station.

Regulatory (Electricity)‎

  • Lead counsel before Alberta Utilities Commission in relation to the determination of ‎appropriate line loss rates in multi-year and multi-party proceeding, including appearances ‎before the Alberta Court of Appeal.‎
  • Lead counsel before Alberta Utilities Commission in relation to an application for ‎decommissioning costs of electrical generating units and mine facilities under the Power ‎Purchase Arrangements Regulation.
  • Lead counsel in negotiating a settlement agreement with the Market Surveillance ‎Administrator and in proceedings before the Alberta Utilities Commission in relation to an MSA ‎investigation.
  • Advising a quasi-governmental agency in connection with issues under the Alberta Public ‎Agencies Governance Act, Electric Utilities Act and all related regulations.  Conducted ‎numerous hearings before the Court of Queen’s Bench and the Alberta Court of Appeal ‎relating to jurisdictional and interpretive issues associated with the Power Purchase ‎Arrangements.‎

Securities Litigation

  • Lead counsel for accused engineer in a six week hearing before the Alberta Securities ‎Commission in respect of allegations of insider trading. At issue was the materiality of the ‎preparation of reserves reports for an oil and gas entity.‎
  • Lead counsel in Court of Queen’s Bench actions relating to redemption of securities (options).‎
  • Co-counsel in Court of Queen’s Bench action regarding damages arising from delay in providing ‎notice for a special warrant issue; affirmed by the Alberta Court of Appeal.
  • Counsel in numerous Court of Queen’s Bench applications for approval of Plans of ‎Arrangement under s.193 of the Alberta Business Corporations Act. ‎
Languages
  • English
  • French
Education
  • LL.B., University of Toronto 1997
  • B.A., (Honours), Queen's University 1993

Awards

  • Best Lawyers Canada (Alternative Dispute Resolution), 2024
  • The Legal 500 Canada (Dispute Resolution), 2018, 2023-2024
  • Litigation Star, Benchmark Canada, 2019, 2023

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Calgary Bar Association
  • Western Canada Commercial Arbitration Society

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