Michael J. Velletta
Partner
Michael Velletta began practicing law with a global, commercial law firm in Vancouver, British Columbia. Velletta Pedersen Christie evolved from this experience, and today Mr. Velletta utilizes his diverse background, experience, and interests to deliver legal services to public companies, private corporations, small businesses, and individuals.
Commercial Law
Finding practical and economic solutions that propel businesses forward is a challenge that Mr. Velletta welcomes. While most of his clients are in British Columbia, growing international trade and the global nature of natural resource exploration and development result in transactions around the world, assisting foreign corporations with business in Canada and guiding Canadian corporations with international business development. This work has included building several corporations from the ground up and successfully launching them on Canadian and international stock exchanges. He has served on many boards for public companies and as a Canadian representative for international companies. Mr. Velletta has acted as a legal representative, raising many hundreds of thousands of dollars in public markets. Recently he was a board member for a private corporation that sold for nearly $300 million. Many new clients are from Europe, Central Asia, the Pacific Rim, and Australia.
Trial Lawyer
Mr. Velletta has effectively drawn upon his many interests and a diverse legal practice to have successfully tried a wide range of challenging cases before juries and judges at all levels of Canadian trial and appeals courts, before juries and at international tribunals. These include commercial disputes, malpractice, aviation claims and serious personal injury cases. Noteworthy is an interesting case argued in Chile from a multimillion-dollar contractual dispute successfully fought for a Swiss-based petroleum corporation. Another highly technical case succeeded in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, where a targeted aircraft engine manufacturer paid out significant damages to a number of victims following the crash of their aircraft into the ocean.
- Membership and Board Participation
- Education
- Membership and Board Participation
Michael Velletta’s dedication to the legal profession extends beyond his practice. He has served on the board of governors of the Trial Lawyers Association Of British Columbia and the Linc Universities Foundation. He was also a founding director of Petromanas Petroleum Corporation, a publicly listed corporation, and MNP Petroleum Corporation, a Canadian-traded, Switzerland-based company with projects in Tajikistan. He is a member of several esteemed legal associations, including the Law Society of British Columbia, the Canadian Bar Association, the Victoria Bar Association, the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, and the International Institute of Business Analysts.
- Education
Mr. Velletta studied business at the University of Calgary and attained a Juris Doctor from the University of Victoria.