Alison FitzGerald's practice focuses on international arbitration and international trade and investment. She takes a practical approach to advising clients, seeking to understand their business needs as well as their legal needs, their risk appetite, and their strategic goals. She is a passionate advocate for her clients and their interests.
Alison’s arbitration practice includes experience as senior counsel in complex international commercial and investor-state arbitrations. She has also served as tribunal secretary in precedent-setting arbitrations, and brings unique insight to her counsel practice through years of experience working with some of the world’s preeminent arbitrators. In the course of her arbitration work Alison has gained knowledge and depth of experience in a number of industry sectors, including upstream oil and gas, construction, infrastructure, mining, natural resources, aerospace/defence procurement, software licensing, railways, and chemicals.
Alison’s international trade and investment practice includes experience advising clients on treaty interpretation, navigating trade rules and enforcing trade rules through trade remedy actions. She also regularly advises clients and advocates on their behalf in complex matters relating to economic sanctions, export controls, modern slavery, and business ethics/anti corruption.
She has leveraged her background in public international law and constitutional law to advise and represent clients in complex cases involving potential human rights abuses under international law in connection with foreign operations, and both prosecuting and defending claims under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Alison has appeared before the Federal Courts of Canada, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada in domestic litigation proceedings. She has also appeared before the Canada Border Services Agency and Canadian International Trade Tribunal in trade remedy proceedings. More recently, she has guided clients through the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise’s human rights complaint process.
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