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Photo of Karen Poetker

Karen Poetker

Partner

(she/her)

Karen is a litigation lawyer with a focus on civil, construction, insurance and commercial litigation and arbitration. She has a particular focus on construction-related litigation, acting for owners, contractors, sub-contractors, architects and engineers, in complex construction disputes. She is also Partner and Chair of the Executive Board.

Contact

[email protected] 204-956-3571

Debby Watkins (Assistant)

[email protected] 204-956-0560 ext. 342

Chair of the Executive Board of the Firm, Karen is a litigation lawyer whose practice is focused on civil, construction, insurance and commercial litigation and arbitration. Karen assists clients with a variety of matters, including shareholder disputes, negligence claims and contractual disputes, and insurance litigation.

Karen has a particular focus on construction-related litigation, acting for owners, contractors, sub-contractors, architects and engineers, in complex construction disputes.

She has appeared at all levels of court in Manitoba, and acts as counsel before arbitrators and administrative tribunals. She has also appeared before the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, and regularly negotiates resolutions through private mediation and formal judicially-assisted dispute resolution (JADR).

Karen has also been a presiding member of the Housing Cooperative Appeal Tribunal since 2014.

Education

  • Construction Law Certificate (Osgoode, 2021)
  • Admitted to the Manitoba Bar, 2009
  • LL.B., University of Manitoba, 2008
  • M.A., Ryerson/York Universities, 2004
  • B.A., University of Manitoba, 2001

Practice Areas

Industries

  • McCallister v. McCallister, 2021 MBQB 156
  • St. Boniface Warehousing Ltd. v. BBD Holdings Ltd., 2019 MBQB 181
  • City of Portage la Prairie et al. v. Tower Engineering Group Limited Partnership et al., 2019 MBQB 4
  • Embil v S Maric Construction Ltd. et al, 2018 MBCA 68
  • Co-Author (with Matthew Duffy, Eric Blouw and Kara Moore), Pitblado COVID-19 Resource Centre, “COVID-19 – Summary of Court Closures in Manitoba“, April 14, 2020
  • Author, Pitblado COVID-19 Resource Centre, “Construction Law Considerations in Light of COVID-19“, April 1, 2020
  • Co-Author (with Matthew Duffy, Eric Blouw and Kara Moore), Pitblado COVID-19 Resource Centre, “UPDATE – Executing Affidavits and Declarations During COVID-19 Pandemic“, March 26, 2020
  • Co-Author (with Matthew Duffy, Eric Blouw and Kara Moore), Pitblado COVID-19 Resource Centre, “Executing Affidavits and Declarations During COVID-19 Pandemic”, March 24, 2020
  • Co-Author (with Matthew Duffy, Eric Blouw and Kara Moore), Pitblado COVID-19 Resource Centre, “Managing Litigation in Manitoba During the COVID-19 Pandemic“, March 24, 2020
  • Co-Author (with Matthew Duffy, Eric Blouw and Kara Moore), Pitblado COVID-19 Resource Centre, “Potential Claims Resulting from COVID-19“, March 24, 2020
  • Regular Instructor, Online CPLED Articling Student Course
  • Co-presenter (with The Hon. Mr. Justice Edmond and Dave Hill) at the MBA 2019 Mid-Winter Conference “Part II of The Limitation of Actions Act“, January 25, 2019
  • Co-Presenter (with Elizabeth Bima and Matthew Maslanka), Small Claims Primer, Young Lawyers’ Section, Law Society of Manitoba, June 2016
  • Co-Presenter (with Claudette Perreault and Matthew Maslanka), Small Claims Primer, Young Lawyers’ Section, Law Society of Manitoba, June 2015
  • Co-Presenter (with Matthew Maslanka), Small Claims Primer, Young Lawyers’ Section, Law Society of Manitoba, July 2014
  • Co-Author (with Steve Vincent), “How you can avoid common Errors and Omissions problems”, Manitoba Insurance Broker Magazine, December 2013
  • Regular Presenter, Legal Help Centre Small Claims Workshop, 2012/2013
  • Co-Presenter (with Georgina Garrett), Small Claims Primer, Young Lawyers’ Section, Law Society of Manitoba, June 14, 2013
  • Co-Presenter (with Adam Herstein), “Client Contract and Litigation Primer for Artists”, ACI Manitoba, October 25, 2012
  • Co-Presenter (with Adam Herstein), “Clients are awesome, except when they’re not. A guide to project contracts”, New Media Manitoba, March 20, 2012

 

  • Manitoba Bar Association, Construction subsection, Present
  • Manitoba Bar Association
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Manitoba Bar Association, Civil Litigation subsection, 2016 – 2017

 

  • Wilson Moot Cup Participant, 2008
  • Solomon Greenberg Moot finalist, 2007
  • Max and Manly Isaacs Prize, 2006
  • Ryerson Graduate Scholarship for academic excellence, 2002 – 2004
  • Dean’s Honour List, University of Manitoba, 1997 – 2000