Shannon K. Hayes, KC,

Shannon Hayes practices commercial litigation and arbitration and is the Leader of the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group in Calgary. She has been practicing for more than 20 years in dispute resolution and has a broad range of experience on commercial dispute matters. Shannon has appeared before all levels of court in Alberta and acted in many private arbitrations.

Clients regularly request Shannon to act on complex contractual and business tort disputes. Shannon is known for creative and think outside-the-box solutions to achieve her client’s goals in the most practical way. 

Shannon is recognised by Chambers, Best Lawyers in Canada, Benchmark Litigation, Legal 500, Lexology, and as a Thomson Reuters “Stand-out Lawyer”.

• Law Society of Alberta, Member
• Canadian Bar Association, Member
• Calgary Bar Association, Member
• Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
• Western Canada Commercial Arbitration Society, Member

• Lexology: Client Choice Award Winner, Commercial Litigation - Canada, 2025
• Chambers Canada: Litigation: General Commercial - Alberta (Band 5), 2025
• Best Lawyers in Canada: Alternative Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation, 2021-2025
• Benchmark Litigation: Canada’s Top 100 Women in Litigation, 2022-2024
• Benchmark Canada - The Guide to Canada’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys:
  • Litigation Star, 2020-2024
  • Future Star, 2019
• Thomson Reuters: Stand-Out Lawyer, 2022-2024
• The Legal 500 Canada:
  • Dispute Resolution - Alberta (Next Generation Partner), 2022-2025
  • Dispute Resolution (Extremely Strong Younger Partner), 2018
• Acritas Stars: 2019-2021
• Lexpert Special Edition: Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Litigation Lawyers, 2015
• Lexpert Rising Star Award: Canada's Leading Lawyers Under 40, 2014

Shannon has experience in the following areas:

Notable Cases

• Lead counsel to a large energy company in a  private arbitration dispute with its landlord over several millions of dollars in disputed operating costs.
• Co-lead counsel to a pulp and paper mill in a private arbitration involving a claim for force majeure.
• Co-lead counsel to a power plant owner on several force majeure disputes involving equipment failure and significant contract penalty amounts.
• Co-lead counsel to a midstream facility owner involved in a significant private arbitration dispute with the co-owner over facility access and capacity, facility maintenance, and obligations to process third-party gas.
• Co-lead counsel on a successful complex force majeure claim for a power plant owner facing almost $200 million in outage penalties and successfully defended an attempt to appeal, and then to set aside, the arbitration award.
• Co-lead counsel to a real estate development company in a successful breach of contract claim in relation to a large downtown parcel resulting in more than $150 million in damages.
• Co-lead counsel to a hydro dam owner in a claim dealing with hydraulic fracturing activity.
• Lead counsel on various matters on the interpretation of energy industry agreements.
• Lead counsel on various matters dealing with energy sector activity, accounting, marketing and development.

Commercial and General Litigation

• Broad litigation experience in commercial tort and contract claims

Energy Litigation

• Involvement in a wide variety of energy matters, including disputes on the duties of operators, accounting principles and industry contract interpretation
• Regular advisor on power and utility disputes and regulatory matters

Commercial Arbitration

• Counsel in arbitrations under Alberta's legislated Power Purchase Arrangements and in related court proceedings
• Acted for clients in numerous domestic arbitrations of various commercial issues under the Alberta Arbitration Act
• Experience in international commercial arbitrations

Electronic Documents and Data Management

• Regular advisor on records management, litigation preparedness, electronic discovery and evidence matters