Neil M.G. Chantler

Neil M.G. Chantler

Partner, Chantler & Company

Founder, GLC

T. (604) 424-8454

E. neilchantler@chantlerlaw.ca

Neil Chantler is a litigator with nearly 20 years of experience in complex civil and public interest litigation. He has represented individuals, corporations, non-profits, First Nations, unions, and strata corporations before all levels of court in British Columbia.

Neil’s practice is grounded in a commitment to civil liberties and access to justice. He frequently acts for individuals bringing claims against municipal, provincial, and federal governments, particularly in cases involving Charter rights, police misconduct, and other abuses of state authority.

Neil has served as counsel in major public inquiries, including the Frank Paul Inquiry, the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, and the Foreign Interference Inquiry in Ottawa. He also regularly appears before administrative tribunals and at coroner’s inquests.

Neil maintains a broad civil litigation practice spanning public and administrative law, employment, commercial, and constitutional matters. He has handled disputes involving injunctions, professional negligence, civil forfeiture, Indigenous rights, wrongful dismissal, shareholder claims, personal injury, construction, and defamation.

Neil founded Chantler & Company in 2014 and co-founded Gastown Litigation Counsel in 2024, where he continues to pursue meaningful work with a focus on integrity and excellence in the practice of law. Outside the office, Neil is an avid trail runner and the proud father of three boys.

Visit www.chantlerlaw.ca for more information about Neil’s practice.

Practice Areas

Education and Qualifications

Recognition

  • Recipient of Pivot Legal Society’s Access to Justice Award (2017)

Memberships and Affiliations

    • Acted for an individual who suffered physical and psychological injuries after an assault and battery by police officers;
    • Acted for the Executive Director of a non-profit organization in a claim for damages arising out of a constructive dismissal;
    • Acted for a group of businesses in a petition seeking to compel the City of Vancouver to enforce its bylaws;
    • Acted for 26 families of missing and murdered women at BC’s Missing Women Inquiry and a subsequent civil claim for damages against the municipal, provincial and federal governments;
    • Acted for a dentist in a proceeding before the British Columbia College of Oral Health Professionals concerning the dentist’s fitness to practice;
    • Acted for a party at a BC Coroner’s Service inquest into the death of an individual in a residential treatment facility, which examined drug policies, treatment options, and the ongoing fentanyl-overdose crisis;
    • Acted for a party in a petition to have a school board trustee removed for breaching conflict of interest provisions of the School Act;
    • Acted for individuals charged with criminal contempt for breaching an injunction in an environmental dispute concerning logging in the Fairy Creek watershed on Vancouver Island;
    • Acted for a casino and gaming developer in a claim for damages against the British Columbia Lottery Corporation and the Province of British Columbia;
    • Acted for a Burnaby residents’ group with intervenor status at the National Energy Board’s public hearings into the Trans Mountain Expansion Project;
    • Acted for a media company in a petition seeking information about a secretive tax-incentive program operated by the Province through a society doing business as AdvantageBC;
    • Acted for a First Nations organization on British Columbia’s Advisory Committee on Provincial Policing Standards;
    • Acted for a private healthcare facility in respect of a variety of issues including licensing, employee theft, workplace policies, and employee terminations;
    • Acted for a defendant in a defamation claim and related application under the Protection of Public Participation Act alleging the claim was a SLAPP suit;
    • Acted for a restaurant’s head chef in a claim for breach of contract, conspiracy and unjust enrichment brought by the owners against the chef and a number of suppliers;
    • Acted for an individual who was racially profiled and assaulted by police in a case of mistaken identity;
    • Acted for a chemical company in a civil claim following a police raid that caused significant business losses;
    • Acted for the family of an individual murdered by escaped inmates in a civil claim arising from the negligence of the Correctional Service of Canada;
    • Acted for a business in a claim for damages arising from renovations and design work provided by a contractor;
    • Acted for the BC Civil Liberties Association at a coroner’s inquest into the death of an individual in the custody of the Canadian Border Services Agency in holding cells at Vancouver International Airport;
    • Acted for an individual in a claim for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty arising from a fraudulent immigration consulting scheme;
    • Acted for the family of the deceased at a BC Coroner’s Service inquest into the death of an individual killed in his home by RCMP officers during a wellness check.