Douglas F. Harrison

Douglas Harrison is an independent commercial arbitrator and mediator, handling both international and domestic Canadian business disputes. He also acts as legal counsel in select matters, including designing arbitral procedures and enforcing arbitral awards, as well as doing opinion work.

Mr. Harrison is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a member of the CPR Panels of Distinguished Neutrals as both an arbitrator and mediator (Global Panel, Product Liability Panel and Pro Bono Panel), and is on the arbitration rosters of ICDR Canada, ICC Canada, the ADR Institute of Canada, the London Court of International Arbitration and the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission.

Arbitration mandates include sitting as presiding arbitrator, co-arbitrator and sole arbitrator in ad hoc arbitrations and arbitrations under the ICDR Canada and Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Rules.

He is the chair of the Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society, a member of the executive of the ICC Canada Arbitration Committee and of the CanArbWeek organizing committee, as well as being a Co-Chair of the University Tribunal of the University of Toronto. He is also a Vice-Chair of the International Mediation Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of International Law.

For over 30 years, Mr. Harrison was with Stikeman Elliott LLP in Toronto conducting a broad corporate-commercial litigation and arbitration practice that included complex, high-value matters involving, among other things, breach of contract, competition law, insolvency, supplier-procurement disputes, restructuring and class actions for clients in a broad range of industries including aerospace, finance, food processing, logistics, manufacturing, media, natural resources, and pharmaceuticals. His practice also included environmental law, product liability, defamation, professional liability, and directors and officers insurance.

Mr. Harrison is the author of numerous publications on, and has spoken widely about, international and domestic arbitration and mediation. He is listed in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for commercial arbitration, in Who's Who Legal for arbitration (Canada), in Best Lawyers in Canada for international arbitration, corporate and commercial litigation, class actions and product liability law, and has also been internationally recognized as an expert in global product liability law and litigation by Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides. He is a co-author of The Law of Product Warnings and Recalls in Canada, 2nd ed. (LexisNexis Canada, 2019) and has served as a Sessional Instructor in Trial Advocacy at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

Prior to practicing law, Mr. Harrison was a sports journalist based in Toronto and Paris.