The Honourable Coulter A. Osborne, Q.C.

The Hon. Coulter A. Osborne, former Associate Chief Justice of Ontario, has been engaged in alternative dispute resolution since retiring from the bench in 2001. Mr. Osborne has conducted arbitrations, mediations, facilitations and neutral evaluations with a focus on corporate and commercial matters. He has acted as Fairness Advisor in a number of large development and procurement matters. Mr. Osborne was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario, High Court of Justice, in 1978. In 1990, he joined the Court of Appeal and, in 1999, he became Ontario’s Associate Chief Justice.

In 2001, the Ontario legislature appointed Mr. Osborne as Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner. He also served as the province’s Lobbyist Registrar from 2001 to 2007. In 2003, he was appointed to chair a committee to examine the Ontario Securities Commission’s adjudicative function. In 2005, he was appointed as a special officer to the court in the restructuring of Stelco Inc.

In 2006, Mr. Osborne was asked by Ontario’s Attorney General to conduct an inquiry into the province’s civil justice system; his principal recommendations were accepted by the government and incorporated into Civil Rule changes effective January 2010.

Mr. Osborne received his BA from the University of Western Ontario and later went on to graduate from Osgoode Hall Law School. In 2008, he received an Honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the Law Society of Upper Canada for his many contributions to the administration of justice throughout his distinguished career. In January 2011, he was awarded the Order of Ontario.