Bill Rowley was called to the Bar of
Ontario in 1970 and subsequently in other jurisdictions. Appointed Queens
Counsel in 1983, he was elected Chairman of McMillan Binch in 1996 where he
heads the firm's competition law group, advises on corporate governance and
accepts appointments as an international arbitrator. Founded in 1903, McMillan
Binch is one of Canada's leading law firms. He also accepts appointments
through 20 Essex Street, London, which he joined as an arbitrator member in
2002. 20 Essex Street is one of England's pre-eminent, and longest established,
sets of chambers practicing in the international arbitration field in both
commercial and public international law.
Born in Lindfield, Sussex in 1943,
and educated at Trinity College School, Carleton University (1961-1965), he
received his LLB (Magna Cum Laude and Gold Medallist) from the
University of Ottawa (1965-1968) where he was Editor-in-chief of the Ottawa Law
Review. Prior to joining McMillan Binch he served as a Law Clerk to the Supreme
Court of Canada (the Hon. Mr. Justice Roland A. Ritchie) and Special Assistant
to the Director (now Commissioner) of the Canadian Competition Bureau.
He has practised at the Bar for 33
years, specializing in all aspects of international commercial law, including
antitrust/competition, contracts, banking, oil industry, insurance, corporate
governance and arbitration law and practice. Listed as a leading expert in the
antitrust, corporate governance and international arbitration fields in all
European and North American expert guides, he is also a noted author and
frequent speaker on international competition law and policy issues. He is
co-author (with Donald I. Baker) of Rowley & Baker: International
Mergers - the Antitrust Process (3rd edition, Sweet & Maxwell, 2001).
He chairs the International Bar Association's Global Forum on Competition
Policy, is the past chairman of the International Bar Association,
Section on Business Law as well as the past chairman of the IBA Antitrust and
Trade Committee. He is a non-executive member of the board of directors of the
AVIVA Group Canada Ltd., and a past member of the board of governors of
the International Capital Markets Group.
Mr. Rowley is Co-ordinating Editor,
Arbitration World, The European Lawyer, Reference Series, (forthcoming,
February 2004). He has chaired or participated as a tribunal member or counsel
in numerous international and national arbitrations. These have involved a
variety of national laws and investment treaty systems including those of
England, many European states, Bermuda, China, India, Mexico, Thailand and
Canada, as well as New York, Delaware and California. In addition to ICC
arbitrations, he has conducted cases under other rules such as those of
UNCITRAL, the LCIA, the AAA and a number of domestic regimes. Recent
arbitrations have included petroleum industry joint ventures (Kuwait oil fields
- US $7B), gas pricing/repricing formulae (Canada/US), international trade mark
licensing (New York/London), investor/state disputes (NAFTA), telecom
distribution issues (EU/US/ Bermuda), telecom joint ventures (UK/US/India).
He is a member of the National Panel
of Arbitrators for Canada, ICC, Paris and an alternate member of the Advisory
Committee on Private Commercial Disputes of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA). He is also a member of the London Court of International
Arbitration. Further panel memberships include those of ADR Chambers
International, the American Arbitration Association, New York; the German
Institute of Arbitration, Cologne; the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for
Arbitration, Malaysia; The International Arbitral Centre, Vienna; The Indian
Council of Arbitration, New Delhi; the Australian Centre for International
Commercial Arbitration, Melbourne; and Singapore International Arbitration
Centres, Singapore.
He is co-founder and a director of
the Global Forum on Competition Trade Policy, London and Washington DC;
serves as Editor-in-Chief, Business Law International, London; as
advisory board member of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Report,
Washington DC, the Competition Policy Record, Toronto, the Antitrust
Report, New York, the Global Competition Review, London, The
European Lawyer, London; is antitrust editor, Canadian Law
Newsletter, Washington DC and is chairman, editorial advisory board of
International Business Lawyer and is a Fellow of the American Bar
Foundation.
