William Hourigan

Background

About William Hourigan

William Hourigan is a retired Justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Superior Court of Justice. He is currently Senior Counsel at Bennett Jones in Toronto and an Arbitrator/Mediator. Prior to his appointment to the bench, William was Chair of the Litigation Department at Faskens in their Toronto office and practiced complex commercial litigation. He has also held senior roles in the Ontario and federal governments, including Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jim Flaherty, Counsel and Director of Issues Management for Premier Mike Harris, and Budget Director for Canada, where he was responsible for crafting the federal budget. As a judge, he was appointed the Commissioner of a Public Inquiry into the Ottawa LRT and conducted an independent investigation regarding the Edmonton Police Service. He regularly advises corporations on commercial litigation, conducts client investigations, and manages client responses to crisis management issues. In addition, he acts as a mediator and arbitrator on a wide variety of disputes.