R.J. Randall Hordo, K.C., FCIArb.

Associate Counsel

E: rhordo@nst.ca
T: 604.639.3666 / 604.649.3994

  • Biography
  • Experience

Randall Hordo, K.C. has over 40 years of litigation experience, including commercial and partnership disputes, securities and pension matters, professional negligence, class actions, aviation product liability, administrative law, and catastrophic personal injury.

Randy has appeared in all levels of Court in British Columbia, in the Federal Court of Canada and in the Supreme Court of Canada. He has also acted as counsel in numerous complex commercial arbitrations.

In addition to his demonstrated abilities in trial and appellate work, Randy is a skilled negotiator who has successfully resolved numerous disputes involving hundreds of millions of dollars. Randy has also lectured on negotiations at the University of British Columbia Law School.

Education
  • British Columbia Bar, 1977
  • Yukon Bar, 1987
  • LL.B., (Gold Medalist), University of British Columbia, 1976
  • M.Sc., University of Manitoba, 1973
  • B.A., University of Winnipeg, 1971
Recognition
  • Appointed King’s Counsel (formerly known as Queen’s Counsel) in 2002
  • Ranked by The Best Lawyers Canada since 2006, including receiving “Lawyer of the Year” in 2021 in Aviation Law and in 2014 and 2019 in Product Liability Law
  • Fellow, the Litigation Counsel of America
  • Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London, England)
  • Registered mediator and arbitrator, 2017 Register of Timber Harvesting Contract and Subcontract Mediators and Arbitrators
  • Martindale-Hubbell International Law Directory: AV Peer Review rated (the Highest Rating in Legal Ability and Ethical Standards)
  • “Repeatedly recommended” in Corporate Commercial Litigation and Aviation (Regulation & Liability),
  • Leading Practitioner for Corporate and Commercial Litigation, Class Action Litigation, Aviation Law, Personal Injury, and Product Liability Law, Best Lawyers in Canada
  • Leading Practitioner for Product Liability Litigation, Who’s Who Legal Directory
  • Litigation Star, Benchmark Litigation
  • Leading Practitioner for Product Liability Litigation, Euromoney Institutional Investor
  • Member, Western Canada Commercial Arbitration Society
  • Member, Aviation Insurance Association
Cases of Interest
  • British Columbia (Director of Civil Forfeiture) v. PacNet Services Ltd et al
    Acting as lead counsel and working with Karen L.M. Carteri and other NST team members in two significant and complex civil forfeiture proceedings brought in British Columbia, as well as in a related claim in British Columbia under the International Business Association Act. Both cases involve allegations of participation in money laundering and involve coordinating with counsel in other jurisdictions, including the United States.
  • Great Canadian Gaming Corporation v. British Columbia Lottery Corporation
    Acted for Great Canadian as lead counsel with NST partner Karen L.M. Carteri in a claim to enjoin BCLC from taking a disputed marketing fee and to recover $35 million in marketing fees collected by BCLC since 2009. The question in dispute was whether the parties had agreed to eliminate the marketing fee in 2009, or whether they had agreed to change from a fee held in trust to a commission, to a different amount, and for the balance of the term of the casino operational services agreement.  The dispute included an interplay among tax treatment of fees collected, gaming marketing, oral discussions and negotiations, agreement by conduct, contracts with other gaming service providers, and allegations of bad faith in contractual dealings. BCLC had deducted the marketing fee from remuneration it paid to Great Canadian. Before trial, in 2018, BCLC stopped taking the challenged payments.  The damages claim of $35 million remained to be litigated.  The claim was favourably settled in 2019 on the eve of a nine-week trial.  The terms of the settlement are confidential.
  • Ocean Wise Conservation Association v. Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, 2018 BCSC 196, and 2019 BCCA 58
    Lead counsel for the Vancouver Aquarium (Ocean Wise) in its challenge of a Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation bylaw that banned cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) within all city parks, including Stanley Park where the Vancouver Aquarium is based. Randy was successful in the Aquarium’s application for judicial review in the British Columbia Supreme Court and the litigation led to a re-negotiation and extension of the license agreement between the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation and the Aquarium.
  • United States of America v. Calvin Ayre, Jim Phillip, Bodog Entertainment Group SA and others
    Lead counsel to a team of Canadian and US lawyers in negotiations with the United States Department of Justice, both in Washington, D.C., and at the state level, to resolve a criminal prosecution against Canadian citizens and a foreign corporation.  All claims (in amounts exceeding USD $250 million) against Canadian and Costa Rican individuals were abandoned and a 2012 indictment against NST clients was dismissed.
  • Hodgson v. Musqueam, 2017 FC 509
    Lead counsel for 69 long term leaseholders on the Musqueam Indian Reserve No. 2 contesting notices of rent issued under a 10 year rent review.  The Musqueam Indian Band (MIB) sought annual rents averaging $80,000 – amounts that would have put many leaseholders out of their homes. NST achieved success for the Plaintiffs at trial, at which the Federal Court of Canada set a median fair rent for all lots at levels advanced through expert evidence from the Plaintiffs. Costs of $900,000 were negotiated and collected for the Plaintiffs.
  • NMH Holdings Ltd. v. One West Holdings Ltd. and Concord Pacific, 2012 BCSC 2216
    Lead counsel for a team of counsel, including Karen L.M. Carteri, and Murray A. Clemens Q.C., Randy represented Fortune 500 company Hutchison Whampoa and subsidiary NMH Holdings in successful settlement of a claim seeking specific performance of an Expo lands purchase contract or damages over $90 million and successful defence of counsel disqualification motion.
Publications and Presentations
  • Document Disclosure – Continuing Legal Education Advocacy Conference, 2010
  • Speaker, 2010 International Bar Association Conference
  • Former Lecturer on Negotiations at the University of British Columbia Law School
  • Pre-Trial Management of Documents in Commercial Cases – Continuing Legal Education Seminar on Document Management, 2001
  • Pre-Trial Document Disclosure and Confidentiality in a Commercial Case – Continuing Legal Education Advocacy Conference, 2001