Construction Arbitration: Designing, Building and Presenting the Case

Design the process, make deliberate choices, and understand how those choices play out in practice.

9:00 a.m. Onsite Program Registration

9:30 a.m. Chairs Welcome and Program Framing

• Program objectives and structure
• Where construction arbitration fits in the dispute resolution spectrum
• Core tensions: efficiency vs fairness; arbitration vs litigation; role of the arbitrator

Bruce Reynolds, FCIArb, Partner, Singleton Reynolds LLP

Howard Wise, Independent Arbitrator and Mediator, Wise Alternative Dispute Resolution Inc.

9:45 a.m. Designing the Framework: Clauses, Process Choices, and Tribunal Selection

Start with the front end: how early design decisions shape the entire arbitration. This session focuses on drafting, process choices, and tribunal selection through a proportionality lens.

• Drafting effective dispute resolution and stepped clauses
• Construction-specific considerations (complexity, multi-party dynamics)
• Arbitration vs litigation
• Different rules for different claims
• Institutional vs ad hoc arbitration: control, flexibility, and cost
• Tribunal selection: expertise, composition, and strategic considerations
• Timing triggers and procedural gateways to arbitration

Morgan Burris, Partner, Dentons Canada LLP

Jason Roth, Partner, Bennett Jones LLP

Richard Wong, Partner, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

11:15 a.m.  Break

11:30 a.m.  Procedure by Design: Structuring and Managing the Arbitration Process

Translate framework into procedure. Faculty walk through how to structure and manage the process—from Procedural Order No. 1 to evidentiary scope—using practical examples.

• Procedural Order No. 1 and other Procedural Orders
• Designing procedure: pleadings vs memorials (and hybrid approaches)
• Document production and Redfern process in large construction disputes
• Managing complex evidentiary records efficiently
• Privilege issues in arbitration (and differences from litigation)
• Interim relief, procedural motions, and early issue determination
• Tribunal authority and managing non-party evidence

Laura Cundari, FCIArb, Arbitrator and Partner, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Andrew Kalamut, Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Howard Krupat, Partner, DLA Piper Canada LLP

John Logan, KC, Arbitrator and Partner, Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP

1:00 p.m. Lunch Break

1:45 p.m. Building the Evidentiary Record: Witnesses, Experts, and Written Advocacy

Build a persuasive evidentiary record. This session examines witnesses, experts, and written advocacy, with a focus on strategy, coordination, and common pitfalls.

• Designing an effective evidentiary strategy for construction disputes
• Fact witnesses: selection, preparation, and necessity
• Expert evidence as a defining feature: choosing, instructing, and managing experts
• Common pitfalls in expert reports and testimony
• Tribunal expectations and active management of expert evidence (e.g., joint reports, expert meetings)
• Written advocacy: memorials, witness statements, and persuasive structure
• Integrating factual and expert evidence coherently

Brad Halfin, Partner, Goodmans LLP

Olivier Kott, Mediator and Arbitrator, Kott Mediation Inc.

Greg Moores, KC, Partner Stewart McKelvey Lawyers

Sharon Vogel, FCIArb, Co-Managing Partner, Singleton Reynolds LLP

Meera Wagman, Managing Partner, Secretariat Advisors

3:15 p.m. Break

3:30 p.m. The Hearing in Practice: Advocacy, Evidence, and Tribunal Expectations

Execute with excellence at the hearing. Learn how advocacy, evidence, and sequencing come together—and what tribunals expect when deciding the case.

• Arbitration hearing vs trial: key differences in structure and approach
• Effective direct and cross-examination of fact witnesses
• Testing expert evidence and engaging with technical issues
• What tribunals need and want to hear: decision-making perspective
• Structuring oral advocacy and integrating written materials
• Use of demonstratives, technology, and AI tools
• Bifurcation and sequencing (liability vs damages)
• Post-hearing submissions, costs, and outcome considerations

Nicolas Gagnon, Partner, Lavery, de Billy, LLP

Karen Martin, KC, Partner, Dentons Canada LLP

Robert Otruba, Managing Director, Kroll, LLC

Joel Richler, FCIArb, Arbitrator, Bay Street Chambers

Rick Shaban, Senior Counsel, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

5:00     Day 1 Ends

Apply core concepts through guided exercises, then test your approach against tribunal insight.

9:00 a.m. Onsite Program Registration

9:30 a.m.  Chairs Welcome

• Day’s structure and objectives
• How exercises and panel fit together

Bruce Reynolds, FCIArb, Partner, Singleton Reynolds LLP

Howard Wise, Independent Arbitrator and Mediator, Wise Alternative Dispute Resolution Inc.

9:45 a.m.  Applied Workshop I: Working Through Procedural Foundations

Begin with the fundamentals. Work through a fact pattern and prepare for the first procedural hearing, identifying priorities, risks, and timelines.

• Introduction to fact pattern and dispute context
• Identifying procedural priorities and risks
• Conduct of Procedural Hearing No. 1
• Developing procedural strategy and timelines

Scott Hammel, KC, Partner, Miller Thomson LLP

Julie Hopkins, Independent Arbitrator and Mediator, Western Arbitration Chambers

Andrea Lee, Managing Partner, Glaholt Bowles LLP

David McCutcheon, CArb, Arbitrator, Arbitration Place

Brian Samuels, Arbitrator, Samuels Law Corp.

11:15 a.m.   Break

11:30 a.m. Applied Workshop II: Managing Document Production and Evidence Strategy

Focus on document production strategy. Work through a Redfern exercise, make proportionality calls, and assess tribunal responses.

• Redfern process simulation and decision-making
• Managing scope, proportionality, and disputes
• Strategic considerations in document production
• Tribunal responses and practical outcomes

Julie Hopkins, Independent Arbitrator and Mediator, Western Arbitration Chambers

Sarah McEachern, Arbitrator and Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Catriona Otto-Johnson, Partner, Rose LLP

Nicholas Reynolds, Partner, Singleton Reynolds LLP

1:00 p.m.  Lunch Break

1:45 p.m.  Applied Workshop III: Navigating a Hearing on the Merits with Expert Evidence

Test your advocacy in a live expert scenario. Examine techniques for challenging methodology, credibility, and assumptions in real time.

• Cross-examination of experts in a technical dispute
• Testing assumptions, methodology, and credibility
• Tribunal engagement with expert evidence
• Advocacy strategy and real-time adjustments

Krista Chaytor, Partner, WeirFoulds LLP

Neil Gaudion, Managing Director, Secretariat Advisors

Matthew Hayes, KC, Partner, McInnes Cooper LLP

Sabri Shawa, KC, FCIArb, Partner, Jensen Shawa Solomon Duguid Hawkes LLP

3:15 p.m.  Break

3:30 p.m.  Inside the Tribunal: Managing the Case and Reaching the Decision

Engage with national decision-makers and get focused tribunal insights in this moderated and structured discussion.

• The arbitrator as active case manager vs passive decision-maker
• Balancing efficiency and procedural fairness
• Managing counsel, experts, and procedural dynamics
• Common advocacy missteps from the tribunal’s perspective
• Differences between international and North American approaches
• Assessing evidence, credibility, and persuasion

Albert Bates, Arbitrator and Partner, Troutman Pepper Locke

Duncan Glaholt, Construction Mediator and Arbitrator, Glaholt ADR Inc.

Chris O’Connor, Independent Arbitrator, O’Connor Alternative Dispute Resolution

Sabri Shawa, KC, FCIArb, Partner, Jensen Shawa Solomon Duguid Hawkes LLP

Janet Walker, CM, Independent Arbitrator, Toronto Arbitration Chambers, Atkin Chambers, and Sydney Arbitration Chambers, and Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

4:50 p.m. Closing Remarks

• Key takeaways and practical insights
• Emerging developments

5:00 p.m. Day 2 Ends; Program Concludes

5:30 p.m. Post-Program Informal “Drinks Thing” at Joey Eaton Centre (non-sponsored/self-pay)

All are welcome – for those who wish to join this informal program networking event, please stop by at Joey Eaton Centre (right next door to our facility at Yonge and Dundas).