Teresa Cheung

Teresa Cheung is a senior partner at BE Law LLP. She is an award-winning adjudicator, and litigation lawyer with experience spanning over two decades representing clients at all levels of Ontario courts and tribunals in complex commercial disputes, shareholder litigation, real estate development, construction disputes, commercial leasing, employment law, mortgage enforcement, administrative law, and immigration law. Her litigation experience includes equitable remedies, such as constructive trusts and high-stakes urgent motions such as Mareva and Anton Pillar injunctions. She has obtained multimillion-dollar judgments.

Teresa’s representative cases include the United States of America v. Yemec line of decisions, cited extensively in Ontario courts, and establishing precedents on court costs, jurisdiction, forum non conveniens, and injunctive relief.

Prior to joining BE Law LLP, Teresa served for over a decade as a Governor-in-Council Member of the Appeals Divisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, where she adjudicated hundreds of appeals. In this capacity, she gained recognition for her expertise in public law, administrative law, human rights law, immigration and refugee law, and decision-writing. She received the Chairperson’s Award (2020) for leadership in the tribunal system. Her decisions have been cited by the Federal Court of Canada, and her legal reasoning has contributed to key jurisprudence in refugee and immigration law. Teresa was involved in Professional Development and the training of new adjudicators. She was a member of the Adjudicative Strategy Committee tasked with identifying quality jurisprudence to assist in decision writing. She was a member of the Society of Ontario Adjudicators & Regulators (SOAR), and the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals (CCAT).

Teresa is an active community leader, including serving as Senior Warden (Trustee) at St. John’s York Mills Anglican Church where she led strategic initiatives. She was the DEIB Steward of the parent association at the Bishop Strachan School. She was the inaugural Treasurer of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL).

Notable Cases

United States of America v. Yemec, 2009 CanLII 44418 (ON SC) (cited by 18 documents) for damages inquiry and stay of proceedings due to the foreign plaintiff’s lack of standing for suing on behalf of citizens in foreign country.

United States of America v. Yemec, 2007 CanLII 65619 (ON SCDC) (cited by 89 documents) on the issue of costs to set aside a Mareva injunction and Anton Piller order.

United States of America v. Yemec, 2003 CanLII 23436 (ON SC) (cited by 24 documents) setting aside a Mareva injunction and Anton Piller order for lack of a strong prima facie case of fraud, failing to demonstrate likelihood of dissipation of assets, the foreign plaintiffs lacked standing, and failure to make full and frank disclosure. Affirmed on appeal: United States of America v. Yemec, 2005 CanLII 8709 (ON SCDC), (cited by 32 documents).

Lin v Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2017 CanLII 26505 (CA IRB) has been cited positively by the Federal Court of Canada on the definition of remorse in misrepresentation: Pu v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2018 FC 600 (CanLII); Basilio v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2020 FC 411 (CanLII) ; Villanueva v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2019 FC 1634 (CanLII).

Adjudicator in Chukwu v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2010 CanLII 90491 (CA IRB) (cited by 78 documents) on the issue of factors considered in Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds covers a range of circumstances beyond hardship.

Adjudicator in Sham v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2010 CanLII 89091 (CA IRB) (cited by 12 documents) for finding the sponsorship agreement is a contractual agreement that needs to be accepted by Citizenship and Immigration Canada to become enforceable against the new co-signer obligated to reimburse the government for social assistance to the applicants.

Peng v. Zhu, 2009 CanLII 39494 (ON SC) on the issues of conflict of laws, forum conveniens, and foreign law must be proved through the testimony of a properly qualified expert.

Publications

• Intellectual Property Law Chapter, Introduction to Law in Canada (2006: Captus Press); co-Author with Alex Wellington, Ph.D.
• Is There a Method to the Madness? The Persisting Controversy of Patenting Business Methods, 19 Intellectual Property Journal 29 (2005); co-Author with Ruth Corbin, Ph.D.
• The Ongoing Duality of Industriousness and Creativity: Copyright Protection of Data Compilations in Canada, 17 Intellectual Property Journal 225 (2003).
• Determining Jurisdiction and Forum Non-Conveniens in Stockbroker’s Liability Litigation in Ontario, Canada, Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice (2002).

Awards

• 2020 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada’s Chairperson’s Award