Gurpal Sandhu

Gurpal is a construction, real estate, and commercial lawyer at ATAC LAW whose practice follows a project across its entire life, from the contracts and site agreements that set it in motion to the liens and disputes that may arise before completion. He acts for contractors, subcontractors, and consultants, for developers, owners, and strata corporations, and for insurers, businesses, and First Nations advancing economic development. Practising on both the advisory and the contentious side, he considers each matter on two levels, weighing the immediate legal question against the contractual, financial, and operational interests that lie behind it.

In his contentious work he acts in disputes over payment, holdbacks, and unpaid accounts, builders liens under the Builders Lien Act, warranty and deficiency claims, professional liability, project delay, and the conflicts that arise among contractors, subcontractors, and consultants on renovation and development projects. In his advisory work he drafts and reviews construction contracts and CCDC supplementary conditions, tendering and bidding documentation, and the agreements that govern access, risk, and performance on an active site, among them shoring, underpinning, crane-swing, and roofing.

His real estate practice concerns disputes over boundaries and interests in land, including easements and encroachments, boundary lines and retaining walls, and claims between neighbouring owners. It extends to property damage, foreclosure, certificates of pending litigation, development approvals, commercial premises, and strata property. Much of this work is multi-party, drawing owners, builders, consultants, insurers, and trades into a single proceeding in which contract, technical evidence, title, and insurance coverage each bear upon the others.

Beyond contentious matters, he provides commercial counsel on acquisitions, service and supply agreements, aggregate purchases, financing, corporate records, shareholder agreements, and the obligations that outlast a closing. A substantial part of his practice is devoted to First Nations and their economic development organizations, whom he has advised across construction, natural resource, infrastructure, hospitality, land development, and commercial ventures. He begins by establishing the governing rights and obligations, locates the pressure points likely to determine the client's position, and sets a course suited to the project or the dispute. In negotiation, in the defence of a lien or a property interest, or before the court, he works toward a result that withstands both legal and commercial scrutiny.