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Erin Best (she/her)

Partner & Trademark Agent

Suite 1100, Cabot Place
100 New Gower St.
St. John’s, N.L.
A1C 6K3

+1.709.570.8833

+1.709.722.4565

ebest@stewartmckelvey.com

LinkedIn Profile

Language(s) spoken: English

Bar Admission(s): Newfoundland and Labrador, 2009

Legal Assistant(s): Susan Greening

Erin obtains excellent and timely results for her clients.  In addition to leading complex commercial litigation files (particularly insurance, construction, and real estate), her varied practice includes providing guidance in matters relating to entertainment, media, privacy, and the acquisition and protection of intellectual property (trademarks, copyright, and trade secrets). She is the past chair of Stewart McKelvey’s NL Litigation Group and the Canadian Bar Association’s National Intellectual Property Section.

Erin has assisted her clients by:

  • Acting as lead counsel for the City of Corner Brook on a successful appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada in Corner Brook (City) v. Bailey where a unanimous judgment was received on a contractual interpretation matter.
  • Appearing before all levels of court in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Federal Court, and the Supreme Court of Canada.
  • Developing and implementing high level litigation, privacy and corporate structuring strategies.
  • Acting as lead counsel for Premier Kathy Dunderdale at the Muskrat Falls Public Inquiry. Hearings proceeded for a full year and involved over a million documents.
  • Acting as lead counsel for the applicant in a successful class action with over a million class members, resulting in an award of $20 million for class members.
  • Acting as counsel for the Intervenor, APTN, in a significant media law appeal decision wherein an injunction was vacated helping to relieve journalist Justin Brake of the consequences of a contempt order.

Education & Career

Education

McGill University, BA, 2001
University of New Brunswick, LLB/MBA, 2008

Activities

Board Member, Law Foundation of Newfoundland & Labrador Board of Governors, 2022 – present
Board Member, The Rooms Corporation, 2022 – present
Chair of Diversity & Inclusion Committee, The Rooms Corporation, 2022 – present
Past-chair, Canadian Bar Association National Intellectual Property Section, 2020 – present
Vice chair, Canadian Bar Association National Intellectual Property Section, 2018 – 2019
Chair, Stewart McKelvey Newfoundland and Labrador litigation practice group, 2017 – 2020
Founder and president, The Kitchen Party Newfoundland and Labrador Music Industry Think Tank, 2016 – present
Treasurer, Canadian Bar Association National Intellectual Property Section, 2016 – 2017
Co-chair, Stewart McKelvey Newfoundland and Labrador litigation practice group, 2016
Member, pro bono committee, Business & the Arts Newfoundland, 2014 – present
Co-chair, local operations committee, East Coast Music Association, 2014/2015
Chair, local partnerships committee, East Coast Music Association, 2014/2015
Vice-chair, East Coast Music Association, 2012 – 2015
Member, public awareness committee & insurance committee, Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC), 2012 – present
Director, St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, 2011 – 2013
Co-chair, copyright working group preparing the CBA submission on Bill C-32, Copyright Modernization Act, Canadian Bar Association – National, 2010 – 2012
Secretary-treasurer, Canadian Federation of Musicians – local 820, 2010 – 2011
Chair, Intellectual Property section, Canadian Bar Association – Newfoundland and Labrador chapter, 2009 – 2019

Accolades

Lexpert® Rising Star: Leading Lawyer Under 40, 2017
Lexpert rating: Data Protection & Privacy, 2022-2024
Lexpert rating: Litigation – Intellectual Property, 2022-2024
Lexpert rating: Litigation – Corporate Commercial,  2018 – 2024
Lexpert rating: Intellectual Property Law,  2018 – 2024
Lexpert rating: Computer & IT Law, 2020, 2024
Rhind Scholarship from the Insurance Institute of Canada

Presentations

“Dynamic Equity Splits: What, why and how”, Invest NL

September 19, 2017

IP Basics for Lawyers, NL CBA IP Section

July 06, 2016

Expropriation and other popular municipal law issues, Municipalities NL Conference

May 05, 2016

Intellectual Property and Royalties for Creators, Business and the Arts NL

February 29, 2016

Implications of Sharing the Economy, Stewart McKelvey Insurance Day, Halifax

October 30, 2015

Business organizations and IP issues in film, Scene and Heard, SJWIFF

March 07, 2015

Intro to Trade-marks, 2014

User Rights in the Educational Context, IPIC annual conference, 2014

Intro to IP, Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development, 2014

Anti-spam Breakfast Seminar, 2014

Protecting Your Intellectual Property Assets, Memorial University Faculty of Business, 2014

Tendering and Procurement, 2013

Arson, Newfoundland Insurance Industry, 2013

Women in Technology, NATI, 2012

Artist Resale Right, Royal Academy of Artists, 2012

Punitive Damages, Newfoundland Insurance Industry, 2012

Valuing Your Intellectual Property Assets, Genesis Centre and RDC, 2012

Diminishing Value: An Emerging Head of Damages, Newfoundland Insurance Industry, 2011

 
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