Douglas F. Harrison

Mr. Harrison brings to his arbitration and mediation practice over 30 years of experience as a litigator with Stikeman Elliott LLP in Toronto, conducting a broad commercial litigation and arbitration practice for clients from around the world. He was also Vice-Chair of the firm's national Claims & Risk Management Committee for several years and a member of the firm's national Professional & Ethics Committee.

Mr. Harrison's legal expertise spans a wide range of corporate and commercial disputes and topics, and also includes environmental law, product liability, defamation, professional liability, insolvency and directors and officers insurance. He handled numerous arbitral mandates as counsel, and was also involved in the enforcement of international commercial and investor-state arbitral awards. 

His industry expertise includes mining, aerospace, chemicals, financial services, food processing, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, logistics, manufacturing and media.

Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory - 2021 (Commercial Arbitration)

Best Lawyers in Canada - 2021 (International Arbitration, Corporate & Commercial Litigation, Product Liability Law and Class Action Litigation).

Acritas Star - independently rated lawyer, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Mr. Harrison is internationally recognized as an expert in global product liability law and litigation by Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides, 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Barrister & Solicitor, Law Society of Ontario (called in 1988)

LL.B., University of Toronto, 1985

B.A., Political Studies, Queen's University, 1982

ADR Institute of Canada

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

CPR Panels of Distinguished Neutrals (Global, Product Liability, Pro Bono)

ICC Canada Arbitration Committee (Executive)

ICDR Canada

Institute for Transnational Arbitration

International Arbitration Institute

International Council for Commercial Arbitration

London Court of International Arbitration

Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society (Executive, Education & Programming)

University of Toronto, University Tribunal (Co-Chair)

Mr. Harrison is also a Vice-Chair of the International Mediation Committee of the American Bar Association's Section of International Law and volunteers as an arbitrator for the Vis Moot, the Virtual Vis East Moot and various Vis Pre-Moots.

State Instrumentalities - Piercing the  Corporate Veil - Canada, in Enforcing Arbitral Awards Against States, IAI Series on International Arbitration No. 12, forthcoming

Removing an Arbitrator for Incapacity or Undue Delay, Canadian Journal of Commercial Arbitration, vol. 1, 2019 (excerpted in New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer, Fall 2019 and Spring 2020) https://bit.ly/3hE2TDN

The Law of Product Warnings and Recalls in Canada, 2nd ed., LexisNexis Canada, 2019, with Alex Colangelo

Mr. Harrison is a contributor to The Lawyer's Daily, an online publication of LexisNexis Canada - see his recent article about the White Paper on arbitration as an effective remedy for human rights abuses at sea: https://bit.ly/3hSeiz6 

Virtual Arbitrations: Experience to Date & What the Future Holds, Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society, Virtual Annual Meeting, June 2020

Thinking Big After the Singapore Convention: The Growing Promise of Cross-Border Mediation, American Bar Association, Section of International Law, Virtual Annual Meeting, May 2020

ADR Advocacy: Advanced Techniques, The Advocates' Society, Toronto, November 2019

Piercing the Corporate Veil in Domestic Law: A Comparative Approach, International Arbitration Institute, Enforcing Arbitral Awards Against States, Paris, October 2018

Photography 3.0: Speech, Privacy and the New Normal, Union Internationale des Avocats, 61st Congress, Toronto, October 2017