James Plotkin
James Plotkin is a bilingual litigation and disputes partner in Gowling WLG's Ottawa office, practising in the Advocacy and Intellectual Property groups. His practice focuses on commercial litigation and arbitration (international and domestic), intellectual property litigation and administrative law.
James has argued before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court, as well as all levels of court in Ontario. He also frequently represents clients in international and domestic arbitrations. James is certified as a Qualified Arbitrator (Q.Arb) by the ADR Institute of Canada and acts as arbitrator in commercial and intellectual property matters in both ad hoc and institutional settings. He is on the Vancouver International Arbitration Centre's (VanIAC) Expedited Procedure arbitrator roster and the Arbitration Place NextGen Roster of arbitrators.
In addition to his litigation and arbitration practice, James is involved in domain name dispute resolution, both as counsel and adjudicator. He is on the rosters of the Canadian International Internet Dispute Resolution Centre (CIIDRC) and Resolution Canada and regularly acts as a sole panelist and member of three-person dispute resolution panels.
James's public law practice entails both advocacy and advisory components. In addition to representing individuals and businesses in judicial review proceedings, he has acted as litigation counsel to the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (Elections Canada) and the Canadian Judicial Counsel. On the advisory side, James is counsel to the City of Ottawa Election Compliance Audit Committee as well as the City of Ottawa Property Standards and License Appeals Committee.
Prior to joining Gowling WLG, James practised with a boutique litigation firm in Ottawa. Before entering private practice, he clerked for the Honourable Justice Richard Boivin of the Federal Court of Appeal.
James has been published broadly on international and domestic commercial arbitration, copyright, trademarks and domain name disputes. He has contributed commentary on copyright and related issues on television, radio, podcasts and various national and regional English and French print media. Additionally, James co-authors a commentary on Ontario's arbitration legislation as well as a commentary on British Columbia's international arbitration legislation.
He obtained his LLL, JD and LLM from the University of Ottawa, where his graduate research focused on the implications of 3D printing on Canadian trademark law. While in law school, James competed on the University of Ottawa's Willem C. Vis. International Commercial Arbitration Moot Team, which he now assists in coaching. James sits on the Board of Directors of VanIAC and the Young Canadian Arbitration Practitioners (YCAP) and is active in the Canadian arbitration community.