Some big names are joining the newest player in Toronto’s arbitration scene.

On April 18, Arbitration Place in Toronto’s financial district will hold its official opening at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Among its resident arbitrators are Yves Fortier, former chairman of Ogilvy Renault LLP who recently left its successor firm Norton Rose Canada; Thomas Heintzman, counsel at McCarthy Tétrault LLP and, like Fortier, a former president of the Canadian Bar Association; alternative dispute resolution practitioner Stan Fisher; and former Ontario associate chief justice and integrity commissioner Coulter Osborne.

The new firm’s member arbitrators include Earl Cherniak of Lerners LLP; John Judge; Barry Leon, head of the international arbitration group at Perley-Robertson Hill & McDougall LLP; John McDougall, partner emeritus and counsel at Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP; Goodmans LLP’s Harry Radomski; and Osgoode Hall Law School professor Janet Walker. The in-house counsel at Arbitration Place is Be-Nazeer Damji.

Kimberley Stewart, CEO and founder of Arbitration Place, says the new firm will have a global focus given its partnerships with the London Court of International Arbitration and the International Court of Arbitration.

“It’s putting Toronto on the map for the international community,” she says, noting she hopes those drafting international arbitration clauses will be more likely to think of Toronto as a seat of arbitration as a result. In addition, the firm has expansive space in the Bay Adelaide Centre as well as translation and interpretation services that Stewart says make it “very conducive to international work.”

To celebrate the opening of the new firm, Arbitration Place's official launch features a debate between former Supreme Court justice Ian Binnie and litigator Will McDowell. Binnie’s former colleague on the Supreme Court bench, justice Frank Iacobucci, will wield the gavel.

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The Supreme Court of Canada starts its spring session tomorrow. Here are the scheduled appeals for this week.

April 11 — Quebec — Personne désignée B v. R.

Criminal law: This case is central to the crackdown of an organized crime ring in Quebec. Ten people were arrested based on information from the applicant. In question is whether the applicant had police informer status. There is a publication ban and sealing order in the case.

April 12 — Manitoba — Robert Joseph Kociuk v. R.

Criminal law: Robert Joseph Kociuk was convicted of first-degree murder while committing a sexual assault. DNA profiling was used to convict him in this 1984 “cold case” murder. On appeal, Kociuk claimed that the trial judge did not adequately put the theory of the defence to the jury. The majority of the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

April 13 — Alberta — Adrian John Walle v. R.

Criminal law: Adrian John Walle was convicted of second-degree murder. On appeal, he argued he should have been convicted of manslaughter, and his developmental delays and alcohol consumption should have been considered. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.