Mr. McInnes is a member and Manager
of the Atlantic Provinces Division of ADR Chambers, an Alternative Dispute
Resolution Group which provides ADR services consisting of Mediations,
Arbitrations, Neutral Evaluation, Mini-Trials, Med-Arb, and Private Appeals
from Arbitral Awards and Trial Judgments.
Professional Career
Mr. McInnes was a senior partner
with the law firm of McInnes, Cooper in Halifax from 1961 to 1999. He practiced
general litigation in Nova Scotia and across Canada, and appeared before a
variety of administrative tribunals, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, the
Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. He served as the
President of the Canadian Bar Association (Nova Scotia) from 1983 to 1984.
From 1985 to 1988, Mr. McInnes was
Minister of Supply and Services and Minister of Public Works and Housing,
Canada, where he established a unique arbitration system for the Department of
Public Works.
Arbitrator/Mediator
Mr. McInnes was Director of the
Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Canada from 1993 to 1995, and served
from 1993 to 1994 as Director of the Atlantic Arbitration and Mediation
Institute. In 1996, he was on the International Mediation Centre’s
Advisory Board, and in 1999 he was a Panel Member of the Canadian Foundation
for Dispute Resolution.
He is a Certified Arbitrator and
Mediator in the Province of Nova Scotia and is a member of LLCIA, The
International Dispute Resolution Centre in London, England, and a panel member
of the Association of Maritime Arbitrators of Canada, the Hong Kong
International Arbitration Centre and the American Arbitration Association.
Mr. McInnes has lectured and written
extensively concerning current developments in ADR, and is a contributing
editor to CCH on Arbitration and Mediation. He has delivered seminars to the
Nova Scotia Construction Association and at Lexpert conferences, and has
presented annual lectures for the Loss Control Program for the Insurers of the
Architects and Engineers of Canada, and Graduate courses to architects and
engineers, on all aspects of legal practice. He has been a panel member at
various international seminars on arbitration.
Mr. McInnes has been involved in
mediations and arbitrations for municipal governments, and has extensive
experience in mediations and arbitrations dealing with ships and shipyard
repairs and construction; the failure of buildings, including geotechnical
aspects, building envelopes and roofs, as well as a great variety of issues
generally relative to construction, engineering and architectural practice;
fishing, marine and jurisdictional issues; and mining claims. He has dealt with
countless commercial cases including disputes with financial institutions,
brokerage houses, real estate and development issues, employer and employee
relations and human rights issues; medical malpractice; insurance issues; and
labour and environmental issues. He serves on the Domain Name Dispute
Resolution Panel and is a Red Sport Panel Member.
