James Plotkin

James Plotkin is a bilingual associate 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 acts in international and domestic arbitrations. James is certified as a Qualified Arbitrator (Q.Arb) by the ADR Institute of Canada. He is on the Vancouver International Arbitration Centre’s (VanIAC) Expedited Procedure arbitrator roster and is available to arbitrate commercial and intellectual property-related disputes, both in ad hoc and institutional settings.

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.

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-authored a commentary on British Columbia’s international arbitration legislation and is co-authoring the next edition of Ontario’s arbitration legislation commentary.

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.