James Minns is a mediator, arbitrator, adjudicator and appraisal umpire with Global Resolutions Inc. where he helps those involved in a wide range of commercial disputes resolve their differences in an efficient, cost-effective way through facilitated mediation, arbitration, adjudication and property appraisals. James is available to work with parties and to hear matters from across Canada and internationally.

Prior to joining Global Resolutions, James gained years of practical legal experience as a lawyer working in private practice with a focus on both litigation and transactional matters.

James’ legal experience involved representing client’s business and commercial interests in a wide spectrum of real property, intellectual property and insurance law disputes.

From his insurance background James has extensive experience acting on personal injury, business and property insurance claims resulting from all manner of losses from all types of risks, including commercial risks, surety bonds, business interruption, subrogation claims, course of construction, builder’s risk and wrap-up insurance policies.

James frequently serves as a property insurance appraisal umpire under the Insurance Act.

James developed real property subject matter expertise in construction litigation and transactional matters acting on behalf of all levels of the construction pyramid, including owners, general contractors, and labour & material sub-trades. His experience includes the drafting and review of construction contracts; and litigation involving construction lien and contract disputes. James’ work has involved industrial, commercial, retail, residential and condominium properties. He also has experience dealing with road and highway design issues and construction related claims.

James has been appointed as a Certified Adjudicator with the Ontario Dispute Adjudication for Construction Contracts Authority (ODACC) and is available to determine prompt payment disputes under the new Construction Act. Interested parties may book James for a construction adjudication at: https://odacc.ca/en/

James is also available to respond to a variety of condominium law disputes involving everything from shared facilities disputes; unit owner use and occupancy issues; challenges to by-laws, disputes involving the AGM and the Board of Directors; unit owner lien proceedings; common element use issues; developer v condo corporation disputes; records retention and production issues and much more. James is also experienced in dealing with condominium claims under insurance policies as a result of water and fire loss damages.

James has developed a reputation for exceptional results relating to intellectual property matters. He has successfully worked with parties on matters of ownership, licensing, merchandising and contract disputes involving patents, copyrighted works, trademarks, industrial designs, confidential information, media, sports & entertainment, computer software development, advertising & marketing, publishing, the Internet, e-commerce and domain name disputes. He has acted for parties who have brought actions against infringers of patents, copyright and trademarks, and has also defended parties against whom infringement claims have been made. While in private practice James was a registered Trademark Agent.

James is currently an arbitrator on the Adjudicator Panel of Resolution Canada, appointed to determine CIRA .ca domain name disputes. Interested parties may book James for a CIRA domain name disputes at: http://www.resolutioncanada.ca/rescms/

James frequently appeared before the Ontario Superior Court, the Ontario Divisional Court, the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) and various other tribunals including the Trademarks Opposition Board. He was a registered Trademark Agent at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). James has acquired alternative dispute resolution competencies through formal training and on the job training.

James received his LL.B. from the University of Western Ontario.  He was subsequently awarded his MBA from the University of Toronto Rotman School of Business and his Master of Law (LL.M.) in Intellectual Property from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. James has a Negotiation Workshop Certification from Harvard Law School, a Mediation Process Certification from Conflict Dispute Resolution Associates, an Arbitration Certification from the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Ontario (ADRIO), an Advanced ADR Certificate from the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor and a Commercial Arbitration Certificate from the Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society (TCAS). James holds a Q. Med. and a Q. Arb. designation from the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada (ADRIC). James is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb.).