M Jerry McHale, QC
Visiting professor and Lam Chair in Law and Public Policy at University of Victoria

Commencing July 1, 2011, I was jointly appointed to the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Administration as the Lam Chair in Law and Public Policy. For 10 years prior to this appointment, I was Assistant Deputy Minister with the Justice Services Branch of the BC Ministry of Justice responsible for civil, family and criminal law policy and legislation, mediation and alternative dispute resolution, legal aid, and family law programs. In addition to holding other government positions, including Director of the Dispute Resolution Office, I have worked in the private sector as a litigator and mediator.

I received the Canadian Bar Association (National) John Tait Award for Excellence in Public Sector Law in 2000, a Queen’s Council designation in 2001, the Canadian Bar Association (B.C.) Georges A. Goyer QC Memorial Award for Distinguished Service in 2009, the Victoria Bar Association’s Contribution to the Law Award in 2009 and the Susanna Jani Award for Excellence in Mediation in 2014.

I have spoken at more than 200 conferences, professional gatherings and educational programs since 1986 on topics related to my areas of interest: mediation and dispute resolution, access to justice and justice reform, child welfare and family law, procedural law, policy development and the legislative process.

I am on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice and I am actively engaged as a member of the Steering Committees of both the national Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters and Access to Justice BC. In 2016 I worked with colleagues on the Faculty of Law to launch the University of Victoria, Access to Justice Centre for Excellence. The Centre pursues applied research and practical scholarship on access to justice issues.

Read More

John Singleton, QC
Mr. Singleton has practiced law since 1969. He has concentrated on the areas of insurance, construction, professional liability and environmental matters, on behalf of property owners, architects, engineers, contractors, regulatory agencies and insurers. He has acted as counsel in several precedent-setting cases involving insurers, architects, engineers and other participants in the construction industry and has been counsel on a wide variety of problems related to environmental issues. Mr. Singleton is also a chartered arbitrator and mediator of complex commercial disputes, and is actively involved in both mediation and arbitration on behalf of his own clients and as a mediator/arbitrator retained by others. He also acts as a fairness advisor/monitor of procurement activities in a variety of settings.

Allison Wolf, CEC
Allison Wolf is one of the most senior coaches to the legal profession in Canada. She has over twenty years’ experience as a marketing and business development professional and twelve years of experience as a coach with a focus on lawyers, mediators, and collaborative law practitioners.

Clients appreciate Allison’s fast moving creative mind. She is known for coming up with innovative marketing and business development strategies for helping her clients advance their business goals.

Allison is frequently asked to write for US and Canadian journals and to present to professional associations and law firms. Allison is a partner in the marketing agency Hogarth & Wolf, and is a Certified Executive Coach and the founder of Shift Works Strategic Inc.

She is the publisher of a resource website for lawyers attorneywithalife.com, maintains her own blog at thelawyercoach.com and has a bi-monthly column with the law blog Slaw.ca. She is a Past President of the Legal Marketing Association Vancouver Chapter and a member of the International Coaching Federation. Allison can be reached by phone at 778-773-2556 or by email at allison@shiftworks.ca.

Allan Seckel
Chief Executive Officer
Doctor of BC

Allan Seckel is the Chief Executive Officer of the Doctors of BC, a voluntary association of British Columbia’s physicians, medical residents, and medical students that aims to advance the practice of medicine a by seeking the highest standard of health care for the public and fair remuneration for physicians. Mr. Seckel joined the Doctors of BC in October of 2011 after 8 years in the BC Public Service. From 2003 to 2009, he was the Deputy Attorney General for British Columbia. During this time he was personally committed to law reform, including being a member of the Justice Review Task Force. In 2009, he became the Deputy Minister to the Premier of British Columbia, the Hon. Gordon Campbell, a position that also made him the Head of the B.C. Public Service and the Cabinet Secretary.

Prior to his public service, Mr. Seckel practiced law with a major Vancouver law firm, where he restricted his practice to litigation, primarily in complex commercial and class action cases. While with the firm, Mr. Seckel had many senior roles in firm management, including deputy managing partner. From 1983-84 he was Law Clerk to the Hon. N. T. Nemetz, Chief Justice of British Columbia. Mr. Seckel is also the co-author of two legal texts, including one on the Rules of Court (with James MacInnis). He became Queen’s Counsel in 2003.

Mr. Seckel’s post-secondary education earned him a B.A. (Hons.) degree with joint honours in economics and commerce from Simon Fraser University in 1980, and a law degree from the University of Victoria in 1983. He was awarded the Law Society Gold Medal on graduation from law school. From 1985-86 he attended Gonville & Caius College at Cambridge University as a Commonwealth Scholar, graduating with a Masters of Law degree. In 2012 he earned the designation ICD.D after completing the Institute of Corporate Directors – Directors’ Education Program. He currently serves on the TELUS Vancouver Community Board, is the Vice Chair of the board of Covenant House Vancouver and serves on the board of LIFT Philanthropy Partners.

Since 2015 he has been part of the Access to Justice BC Leadership Group and chairs a Working Group focusing on measurement of access to justice initiatives.

Larry Dybvig
AACI, P.App., MAI, FRICS

Larry started his career in real estate appraisal, development and consulting in 1977, as a property tax assessor with the Department of Northern Saskatchewan. From 1979 to 1989 he worked at the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, a multifaceted real estate development, management and financing agency in a variety of positions, finally serving as the Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Communications. Since moving to British Columbia in 1989, he has worked as a fee appraiser, first with an international valuation-consulting firm and since 1993, at Grover Elliott & Co. Ltd., where he is President. His work is multifaceted, with an emphasis on appraisal, appraisal review and consulting in tribunal matters.

Larry holds professional designations from the Canadian and US Appraisal Institutes and is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. He has been active in the governance of professional organizations having been on National Governing Council of the Canadian Institute (AIC) and several national committees, including professional liability insurance and Standards. He has been executive editor of the AIC’s professional journal, and since 2000 has been on the Review Panel of The Appraisal Journal, the US Institute’s professional journal and a leading English journal in the appraisal field; he has served on its Editorial Board. Larry is a member of the Tangible Assets Board, a standards setting board of the International Valuation Standards Commission (IVSC)

In addition to his appraisal practice, Larry enjoys professional research, writing and teaching. He has authored papers on contamination and on appraisal reporting for the Research and Development Fund of the AIC, along with numerous articles published in professional and trade journals. Since 1996, Larry has worked as a consultant with the University of British Columbia on the professional appraisal courses it delivers on behalf of the AIC.

Larry was a contributor to the 11th, 12th and 13th Editions of the Appraisal of Real Estate, the leading English language appraisal text. Since 1992, he has edited the Canadian edition of this text. Larry lectures extensively on appraisal knowledge, ethics and standards to various professional organizations and to national organizations such as Canada Revenue Agency and CMHC. Larry and his wife JoAnn have three grown daughters and split their time between homes in Vancouver and Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico.

Melany Franklin
Melany Franklin mediates litigated claims and workplace disputes. She received her mediation training at the Public Conversations Project in Boston, Massachusetts, the Program of Instruction for Lawyers at Harvard Law School and at Stitt Feld Handy Group in Toronto. Melany is currently adjunct faculty to Osgoode’s Certificate in Human Rights Theory and Practice and taught Labour and Employment Law at the University of Toronto for many years. Prior to becoming a mediator, Melany was a partner in a national law firm where she practiced labour, employment and human rights law.

Kathryn Sainty

Called to the Bar of British Columbia in 1986 Kathryn practised with a variety of firms in the Vancouver area. In 1997 she become Legal Counsel to the Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. In 2001, she was appointed a District Registrar of the Court and in 2010 she became the Registrar of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, serving until 2014.

Kathryn has a long-standing interest in consensual dispute resolution, obtaining her mediation training at Harvard Law School (Program on Negotiation) in 2012 and through the American Arbitration Association University in 2013. She is a member of both the Mediate BC Civil and Family Rosters and is accredited as a “family dispute resolution professional” (mediator and arbitrator) by the Law Society of British Columbia. She is a member of the domestic and mediation panels of the British Columbia International Commercial Centre and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2015.

Mark Meredith
Mark Meredith is a partner in the Canadian Corporate Tax practice of KPMG Canada, with over 30 years of practice in Canadian tax. He is also one of two senior partners who lead KPMG Law LLP, a tax and immigration law firm affiliated with KPMG in Canada. Mark’s tax practice is divided between tax planning and dispute resolution. His tax planning and advisory practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and the tax-efficient financing of foreign corporations acquiring and carrying on business in Canada. In addition, Mark is a partner in PignPotato Games and member of the design team for Zombie Fight or Flight.

Shain Jackson
Shain Jackson is Coast Salish from the community of Sechelt. He is a lawyer who has represented the interests of Aboriginal communities and organizations throughout British Columbia in relation to a broad array of issues. After years devoted to the legal profession Shain has taken a break to follow his passion as an artist.

Currently Shain is the President of Spirit Works Limited, an Indigenous owned, operated and staffed company focused on the design, production and distribution of Indigenous artwork ranging from small jewelry pieces to large scale public art.

Shain has always taken very seriously his responsibilities not only to his own community, but to the urban Aboriginal community at large. Further to this, through his company Spirit Works, Shain: has developed programs aimed at providing employment and training to Aboriginal youth; donates space, equipment and expertise to Aboriginal artists in need; consistently donates time and artwork to numerous charitable organizations; has designed and facilitated workshops aimed at providing cultural teachings for at-risk Aboriginal youth; and much more.

Shain’s most recent contribution to the Indigenous art world was leading a group of artists in the creation of Authentic Indigenous. Hosted by Aboriginal Tourism BC, this is a branding scheme that has provided for a major shift in resources relating to Indigenous artwork back to the artists. The Program has also offered artists unprecedented control of their artwork.

Shelina Neallani
Shelina Neallani is a mediator, lawyer and consultant. With over 25 years of combined training and professional experience, she brings a wide and varied mix of expertise to her work. Shelina graduated from UBC with degrees in Social Work and Law and has been called to the Bars of Ontario and BC. Shelina is a member of the Family, Civil and Child Protection Rosters with Mediate BC, is an accredited Family Law Mediator and Arbitrator with the Law Society of BC and a registered Social Worker with the BC College of Social Workers. In addition to her private practice, Shelina is a consultant specializing in projects related to dispute resolution and policy development. Recent consultancy examples include projects on justice transformation initiatives where Shelina collaborated in developing, implementing and managing DR projects as well as knowledge engineering of online dispute resolution processes. Shelina is a published writer and has taught at the post-secondary level. She is interested inter-cultural issues in conflict resolution and is on the Board of Directors for the North Shore Multicultural Society. Shelina enjoys hiking the trails of North Vancouver with her family and golden doodle, Harry!

John Campbell
As one of the founding members of Campbell Burton & McMullan LLP, John has been practicing law in Langley since 1977. John has many years of experience with civil litigation matters and his extensive knowledge of court procedures, arbitration and mediation enable him to approach and assess and solve problems from different angles. He provides clients with creative, practical options to resolve their legal disputes.

John was one of the first lawyers to become an accredited BC family law mediator. He has been certified in advanced commercial mediation since 1992 and has been qualified as an arbitrator since 1998. In 2013, John also qualified as a Family Arbitrator with the British Columbia Arbitration and Mediation Institute (BCAMI) to conduct Family Arbitrations under British Columbia’s new Family Law Act.

John retired from Partnership in 2013 and, since March of 2014, restricts his practice to arbitration and mediation, but does assist other members of the firm with business, family, and other civil claims.

Bob Springer
Q.Med. PAg

Having spent the last 30 years as a Professional Agrologist, helping agricultural producers find solutions to their management, environmental and production challenges, I’ve recently found a new passion: helping people find creative solutions to their conflicts by building understanding through constructive communication, mediation, relationship building, conflict & communication coaching, group facilitation and multi-stakeholder consultation.

My focus is on workplace and land/resource use conflict resolution throughout Western Canada.

At the same time I am still a licensed Agrologist with active interest in the following areas: getting science-based information about agriculture to the public; rural/urban relationship building by developing better understanding between the urban consumer and rural food producer; agricultural livestock welfare; role of livestock grazing in ecology of native grasslands and sustainable agriculture.

Diane Tucker
Although Diane E. Tucker is a relative newcomer to ADR in the Lower Mainland, she gained significant experience as an arbitrator in San Francisco for the State Bar of California and the Better Business Bureau, and as a mediator for the Superior Court of San Francisco. Diane is a member of BCAMI; she is an arbiter with Just Resolve, an online dispute resolution service based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In addition, Diane is a Certified Information Privacy Professional for both Canada and the US, and retains her license to practice law as a member of the State Bar of California. She is the sole proprietor of DET et al., a consulting business providing domestic and international privacy and dispute resolution services. Diane’s background includes positions as in-house counsel in the electronic entertainment, enterprise software and food industries as well as adjunct faculty teaching law, paralegal and business students.

Elton Simoes
Elton Simoes is an accomplished, Arbitrator, Mediator, Negotiator, Consultant and Business Executive with extensive and global experience in business, negotiation, arbitration, mediation and dispute resolution systems design.

Having lived and worked in Canada, United States, Europe, and Latin America, Mr. Simoes demonstrated outstanding record of leadership; creative problem-solving; sound business acumen; legal and dispute resolution skills and knowledge, in different organizations across multiple functions, geographies, languages, cultures, and technologies.

As an ADR professional, Elton Simoes possesses extensive experience in commercial arbitration, mediation and Med.-Arb., particularly in the areas of intellectual property, media, entertainment, sports, and international disputes. Mr. Simoes has worked as a consultant in the designing of dispute resolution systems, to either avoid or minimize litigation costs, saving time and effort in commercial disputes involving consumers, shareholders and other stakeholders.

Mr. Simoes led businesses that generated in excess of US$ 250 million in annual revenues, consistently and frequently delivering double digit growth, and successfully managing important global media brands (e.g. Disney and Playboy), as well as local brands.

Elton Simoes held several senior, high profile, corporate positions, such as Vice President at The Walt Disney Television International; Board Member Representative at HBO Latin America, Managing, Director Sports and Pay-per-view, at Globosat; and Managing Partner at Playboy do Brazil.

Zara Suleman
Zara Suleman practices family law exclusively and is a certified family law mediator and collaborative law practitioner. Zara has also been actively involved in presenting, training, writing and editing materials on family law issues. Zara was called to the Bar in British Columbia in 2007 and articled with the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre. She has worked as an independent legal researcher and consultant and was the Director of the Family Law Project for the West Coast Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund (LEAF). While at West Coast LEAF she coordinated their research and intervention application in the Supreme Court of Canada case, Rick v. Brandsema. Before launching Suleman Family Law, Zara was an associate family law lawyer working on the North Shore.

Zara has done extensive professional development and academic research in the areas of family violence, specifically violence against women and children. In addition, she has received specialized training regarding couples and families in crisis, working with survivors of trauma, mediation and conflict resolution. Zara has successfully represented clients at the BC Provincial Court, BC Supreme Court and the BC Court of Appeal.

Leslie E. Maerov, FCIArb.
Leslie E. Maerov was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in British Columbia in 1975, and as a solicitor of England & Wales in 1991. He is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and was in private practice in Vancouver from 1975 until 1997, initially as a litigator and then as a corporate and commercial lawyer.

Between 2001-2014 Mr. Maerov was Chief Executive Officer and President as well as a founder of a public listed telecom company. Since 2014 he has been Chief Compliance Officer & General Counsel of the company.

Mr. Maerov became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 2011, is a member of the rosters of several arbitral organizations, and has acted solely as an independent neutral on commercial cases since that time. He has been a presenter on various arbitration topics for the BCAMI and Canadian Institute.

James (Jim) Fraser
James (Jim) Fraser is a leading British Columbia practitioner in property tax and expropriation law. Since 1993, Jim has provided strategic advice and litigated appeals before tribunals and courts relating to: imposition and management of property taxes, property transfer taxes, mineral taxes and other commodity taxes on Crown, municipal, private and First Nations lands; imposition and management of payments of grants in lieu of property taxes; expropriation of property by municipalities, government agencies and utilities corporations; negotiation and arbitration of commercial lease renewals and reviews; and, resolution of municipal and other governmental land-use issues relating to zonings and development permits.

His clients have included mines, smelters, sawmills, pulp and paper mills, forestry companies, shopping mall landlords and tenants, large and small-scale golf courses, residential tower and other land developers, oil and gas companies, telecommunications companies, electrical power companies, pension trusts, industry associations, independent schools, charities and non-profits, an assessment appeal tribunal, a municipality and individual home, and small business owners and tax consultants.

Jim has many years of practical experience engaging and instructing professional appraisers, engineers and other expert witnesses in property valuation and litigation matters. He routinely appears before many levels of tribunal, agency and court including the B.C. Property Assessment Review Panel, B.C. Property Assessment Appeal Board, Federal Payment in Lieu of Tax Dispute Advisory Panel, arbitration tribunals, Canadian Transportation Agency, Yellowknife Development Appeal Board, B.C. Supreme Court, B.C. Court of Appeal and Federal Court.

Jim is a Member of the Canadian Property Tax Association (British Columbia Branch) Tax Policy Committee and the Editor of the British Columbia Real Property Assessment Manual.

Darrin Hotte
Certified as a Separation Mediator and Family Enterprise Advisor, Darrin has mediated, facilitated, coached or consulted on over 800 family and civil disputes. He was previously a Manager at Mediate BC and teaches and coaches ADR in a variety of settings. He is the Director and Co-Founder of Christian Mediation Canada, previously an Associate at Outreach Canada, and does intervention work and training in faith-based settings.

Previous to his full-time mediation practice, Darrin was an Ordained Minister and served in leadership positions at all levels in several church and para-church organizations in BC and Alberta.

Darrin holds a certificate in Family Mediation (Justice Institute of BC) and Family Enterprise (Institute of Family Enterprise Advisors) as well as a BA in Psychology/Sociology (Concordia College) and a Master of Divinity (Regent College). Darrin is married with two children and resides on the North Shore.

Vivienne Biessel
Ms. Beisel became a member of the Law Society of BC in July of this year, after 12 years of practice as a member of the Alberta Bar.

Ms. Beisel is an adjudicator with the Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat. Since her appointment in 2010, she had conducted over 300 hearings in many remote and urban locations throughout Western Canada. She has also acted as a Review Adjudicator on appealed decisions. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Beisel acted as counsel to residential school survivors seeking compensation for physical and sexual abuse. She also acted as legal counsel to several First Nations in Alberta on a number of issues including membership codes, elections, land and water rights, consultation, and environmental impacts.

Ms. Beisel is a trained arbitrator, mediator and negotiator. In her private practice, she resolved numerous high conflict litigations through mediation and negotiation. She facilitated multi-stakeholder meetings regarding water resources and the sharing of traditional ecological knowledge. She regularly employs the principles of mediation and alternative dispute resolution in her role as an Adjudicator. She is currently a member of the BC Arbitration and Mediation Institute, the ADR Institute of Canada, and the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals.

Kent Highnam
Cert. ConRes., BA, MA

Kent Highnam has a background in international and public relations with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. He has worked in public and private organizations as an instructor and practitioner in collaborative, interest-based processes in both English and French. A visiting lecturer at Simon Fraser University until 2012, Kent also has experience in human resources and labour relations issues. Kent is Program Director at the JIBC’s School of Health and Community Social Justice and teaches for the Centre for Conflict Resolution as well as for the JIBC Law Enforcement Studies Diploma.

The Honourable Chief Justice Robert J. Bauman
The Honourable Robert J. Bauman is the Chief Justice of British Columbia, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia and Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal of Yukon.

He was appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 1996; as a justice of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia in 2008; as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 2009; and as Chief Justice of British Columbia in 2013. Prior to becoming a judge, he was in private practice with Bull, Housser & Tupper in Vancouver. He worked largely in the areas of local government and administrative law. While practicing law, he taught administrative law at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law as an adjunct professor from 1991 to 1996.

In 2012, and again in 2013, Chief Justice Bauman was named by Canadian Lawyer Magazine as one of the “Top 25 Most Influential” in the justice system in Canada. He was also presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Medal for contributions to Canada. As well, Chief Justice Bauman is the 2012 recipient of the Anthony P. Pantages, QC Medal for outstanding contributions to the field of justice, presented by The Justice Institute of British Columbia Foundation. Chief Justice Bauman was the recipient of the 2013 TLABC Bench Award by the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia. In 2015, he was appointed First Vice-Chair of the Canadian Judicial Council. Chief Justice Bauman is the founding Chair of Access to Justice BC.

Gordon White
Associate Faculty, School of Communication and Culture at Royal Roads

Gordon White has maintained a general mediation practice for 20 years that encompasses court files, harassment and bullying, divorce, restorative justice, multigenerational family dynamics, and natural resource utilization issues in relation to indigenous communities. In the past decade Gordon has expanded the context of his work to include team and organizational development initiatives. Gordon has instructed at the Justice Institute of BC for 14 years and has been teaching a course on Conflict Analysis and Management at Royal Roads University for eight years. Gordon blogs at theconflictjourney.com where he provides insightful perspectives and practical advice on topics relevant to conflict engagement.

Mark Tweedy
Mark has over thirty years of experience as trial and appellate counsel, and over thirteen years of experience as a commercial mediator, arbitrator, and adjudicator. He was called to the BC Bar in 1982. Mark has mediated civil claims involving family law, family businesses, personal injury, professional liability, construction, insurance (property, casualty, life and disability), shareholders’ and joint venture partners’ disputes, real estate, and wills and estates. He has particular expertise in, and enjoys mediating disputes where there is high emotional content.

Mark’s arbitration experience includes under insured motorist claims, and commercial and insurance disputes. He also has substantial experience sitting as a court appointed adjudicator in class action matters.

Mark has the following mediation and arbitration affiliations: Mediate BC, Civil Roster Member; British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Center, Mediation; UMP Panel Member; and BC Arbitration and Mediation Institute, Panel Member.

Mark has also frequently served as a locum, which has more often engaged his skills as a mediator than his skills as counsel. His involvement in this work came about as a result of his volunteer work with the BC Lawyers Assistance Program, of which he also serves as a board member. Mark has assisted in interventions, acted as counsel to lawyers in discipline, credentials, and practice standards matters before the Law Society of British Columbia, and acted as a peer counselor to other lawyers.

Mark was born in Oliver, BC, and has resided in and around Vancouver, BC all his life. He has two adult sons. His passions include cooking and fine food, film, and music. He was a member of “The Falcon Band” which was a proud participant in and a winner at the 2015 and 2016 CBA “Battle of the Bar Bands”, a charity event sponsored by the Canadian Bar Association, which raises money for the Lawyers Benevolent Fund. He currently sings and plays the guitar in “The Fallen Angels” although that band is on a hiatus and he is actively looking for another gig.

Kamaljit Kaur Lehal
Kamaljit Kaur Lehal earned her Law Degree from the University of British Columbia in 1989 and was called to the British Columbia Bar in 1990. She articled at the Workers Compensation Board (now known as WorkSafe BC formerly “WCB”). She worked as an associate with a local law firm successfully practicing ICBC defence work. Kamaljit opened up her own law firm in 1992 and operates a successful practice with a focus on immigration, personal injury, WCB and mediation. Kamaljit completed mediation training through Harvard Law School. Kamaljit has successfully represented clients who’ve been persecuted and are seeking refugee status in Canada. She is passionate in her representation of women on gender persecution grounds. She’s assisted families in reuniting with their loved ones in Canada. Kamaljit has obtained permanent resident status for clients based on their skills. She has represented persons who have been detained for immigration breaches. Her representation of immigration clients has been at all levels including the Federal Court of Appeal. Kamaljit represents individuals who have been injured in motor vehicle accidents and has helped them settle their ICBC claims. Her prior work as ICBC defence counsel provides insight that assists in her representation of her clients. Kamaljit’s work with WCB provides her with a unique perspective in representing injured claimants on various issues from compensation to disability pensions. Kamaljit has successfully mediated civil disputes and attempts to resolve matters outside of court if possible. Kamaljit was a member of the British Columbia Review Board from 1998 to 2010. From 2000 she acted as an Alternate Chair, conducting hearings and making decisions with a panel pertaining to individuals found not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder. Kamaljit has been a Director on the Options Community Services Society since 1996 – a non-profit organization that that supports families and community health. Kamaljit is a strong self-reliant woman who strives to promote this sense of assurance in other women. She is actively involved in the Community Coordination for Women’s Safety and has acted as supervising lawyer for EVA BC (The Ending Violence Association of British Columbia) on a Law Foundation project addressing domestic violence and immigrant women. She has been involved in many workshops and made presentations on improving the safety of immigrant women. Kamaljit is connected to her heritage and enjoys participating in cultural community events. She is an alumni of the Indo Canadian Women’s Organization, a non-profit organization aimed at empowering and educating women South Asian community. She is fluent in Punjabi and speaks Hindi. Kamaljit takes pride in balancing her career while raising her four children together with her husband.

Dr. Larry Axelrod
Dr. Larry Axelrod is an organization and strategy consultant who provides a variety of services aimed at elevating the effectiveness and performance of individuals, teams, leaders, and organizations. Larry has worked with a range of public, private and non-profit sector organizations, and specializes in facilitating strategic planning and change management processes that help clients overcome barriers to achievement and success.

In 2002, Larry co-founded The Neutral Zone Coaching and Consulting Services which has been providing organizational consultation, strategic facilitation, education and training, and direct case intervention (mediation, assessment, investigation) for public and private sector organizations locally and nationally. Prior to forming The Neutral Zone, Larry served as the Director of the Human Rights Centre for Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre and as an Equity Advisor for the University of British Columbia. In addition, Larry has extensive knowledge of professional ethics and served on the Vancouver Hospital Ethics Committee for six years.

Larry also has served in an 8-year term as Executive Dean of the Vancouver Campus with Adler University (formerly Adler School of Professional Psychology). In this role, Larry provided overall strategic, academic and operational leadership for the Vancouver Campus and served as a member of Adler’s senior Leadership Team. In addition to his leadership activities, Larry developed and taught courses in Strategic Planning and Facilitation, Organizational Policy Frameworks and Dispute Resolution and Professional Development, led the development of graduate degree programs in Organizational Psychology, Community Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Public Policy and Administration, and supervised over thirty master’s research thesis projects.

Larry has studied issues of workplace human rights, conflict and conflict resolution throughout his career. He has presented at many professional conferences on topics including human rights, diversity, leadership, change management, effective communication and conflict resolution and is co-author of “Turning Conflict into Profit: A Roadmap for Resolving Personal and Organizational Disputes,” published by The University of Alberta Press. He currently is a Co-Investigator on two SSHRC-funded research partnerships exploring aspects of workplace harassment and conflict resolution: the Workplace Bullying and Mistreatment Partnership for Prevention (http://uwinnipeg.ca/wbmp/index.html) and the Partnership for Productive Organizational Conflict (http://www.smu.ca/centres-and-institutes/ppoc-welcome.html).

Larry completed his B.A. in communications at University of Illinois at Urbana, his M.A. in Social Psychology at San Francisco State University, and his Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of British Columbia.

Larry lives with his wife in North Vancouver, and they have two sons.

Robert Kaiser
Pulling network cable and configuring routers in my early years gave way to becoming one of Accenture’s first Enterprise Architects. In this role, I learned to build business solutions working across people, process, and technology. From there I joined a new IT and business strategy group where I learned how critical strategy, organization design, and governance are to a company’s success. Then I ran the business operations of Accenture’s Infrastructure Consulting group; leading financial, human capital, learning, and strategic initiatives driving the growth of this $1B US division across five industry groups and 13 geographies globally.

I’ve been fortunate to have lead transformational change efforts with some amazing organizations. I was part of the team that launched Sprint PCS, I standardized technology for Pfizer throughout their European operations, and ran both business and technical integration projects for some of the largest mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical space. This work lead to me being named to Accenture Leadership’s top 10%, and receiving the Accenture Hero award for my contributions to Corporate Citizenship, Mentoring, and People Development.

Building high-performing, global teams has taught me one critical truth that transcends borders; What makes a person successful isn’t what they’ve done, but who they are. Since founding Revivae Consulting in 2012, my work has been focused on helping individuals and executive teams alike get better business results by being more effective leaders and building better cultures. At the heart of our success is our proprietary approach to values development, that we’ve used to help companies hire more accurately, improve performance management, build healthy teams, and set strategies that inspire.

My mission:
Help leaders and their organizations be value driven.

My vision:
Every person ends every day…
proud of what they did,
in awe of who they could be,
knowing their life is rich,
and looking forward to tomorrow.

Cathy Knapp
Cathy has a background stemming from almost 30 years in the aviation industry with over 15 of these years spent in Human Resources where she was the sole Canadian HR professional working for the world’s largest airline. In this role Cathy wore many hats and acquired a wealth of experience building a diverse portfolio including Labour Relations, Employee Relations, Conflict Resolution, Investigations, Disability Management, Compensation & Benefits, Performance & Development, Occupational Health & Safety, and more. A significant portion of her experience was gained through working through the challenging dynamics arising from Chapter 11, restructuring, and mergers. Cathy’s experience includes unionized and non-union settings in both Canada and the U.S, and the federal sector.

Cathy recently launched her own private practice, “Cathy Knapp, ADR Services Inc.”, a practice dedicated to workplace mediation, investigation, and arbitration. As a neutral, she provides non-biased services to assist employers, employees, and unions alike in resolving conflict. She also specializes in conducting Workplace Investigations providing external expertise to organizations in providing objective fact-findings needed to determine appropriate outcomes. Lastly Cathy’s services include Workplace Assessments, a valuable tool for employers that can be used in a variety of ways that may include but not limited to gauging the level of employee engagement, identify systemic issues, measuring the success of organizational changes, or simply taking a pulse check of your employees.

Professional designations/certifications/memberships:

Cert.ConRes., Certification in Conflict Resolution
CPHR, Chartered Professional Human Resources Professional
Q.ARB, Qualified Arbitrator (pending approval)

Cathy is a member of BCAMI’s Education Committee.

Thomas Spraggs
Tom Spraggs is the owner and operator of Spraggs & Co. Law Corporation, an injury litigation boutique. He holds a Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws, and Masters of Business Administration. His law firm has experienced significant growth over the last several years, and his lifelong passions for technology and learning have helped him develop unique approaches to collaborative work processes and practice management. Recently, the firm was acknowledged by the Canadian Bar Association with the 2016 Innovative Workplace Award.

Tom Spraggs joined the British Columbia Law Institute board of directors in 2012 by appointment of the Attorney General. He has served on the Strategic Planning Committee, the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee (as Chair), and is currently serving as Vice Chair.

Tom is active in the community. He is currently the Vice Chair of Douglas College where he has also served on a number of committees. Tom is a proud member of the Canadian Bar Association and co-chairs the Civil Litigation Tri-Cities/New Westminster section. As a member of the Law Societies of British Columbia, Yukon and Alberta, Tom’s work has been primarily in civil litigation, and he also has a strong interest in administrative law and governance. He has been a frequent participant in the CLEBC Solo and Small Firm Conference, this year sitting as Course Chair.

Tom is a qualified arbitrator with the BCAMI and is in the process of launching Solvere Inc. (www.gosolvere.com), a digital platform aimed at increasing access to justice.

Joan Cotie
Principal Mediator, Arbitrator and Consultant

Joan lives in Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island with her partner and 4 footed friends. She is a mediator, arbitrator and Parent Coordinator with 35 years of experience working with families, high conflict individuals and community. Joan has experience planning national and provincial conferences and looks forward to working with the BCAMI Symposium team in planning this exciting opportunity.

Jerome Dickey
BA, CHRP

As a dynamic Business Professional with solid expertise in both Operations and Human Resources, Jerome has been focusing his professional practice on enhancing human capital by transforming business through people for optimum results.

During his 20 years of leadership and management roles in a variety of sectors including commercial aviation, transportation and utilities, he’s crafted his ability to leverage challenging business problems into opportunities.

He holds a Bachelors Degree in Business, is a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP), and is a member of British Columbia Arbitration and Mediation Institute, in addition to the Mediate BC Civil Roster.

Jerome enjoys building the capacity of others through dynamic coaching, workshops, dialogue and presentations.

Peter Austin
C.Arb

Peter Austin is a qualified Appraiser (AACI) and Chartered Arbitrator. In recent years he has specialized in Property Tax appeals and lease and strata arbitrations, acting as expert witness as well as arbitrator.

Mr. Austin has served on several Strata councils, professional and non-profit boards, including membership of the advisory committee to the Civil Resolution Tribunal, BCAMI Board and the Property Tax Association (National president in 2000). He has a degree in Real Estate and has lectured at Langara College and UBC.

Joel B. Kohm
Joel B. Kohm BSc JD is a member of the bars of BC and Ontario. He has over 35 years of trial and ADR experience in corporate-commercial, real estate, contract, personal injury, product liability and professional negligence matters. Joel regularly designs and leads interactive advocacy and mediation skills workshops for law societies, private firms and government departments throughout Canada. Now retired from practice, Joel provides mediation and arbitration services across British Columbia.

Karim Sunderji
Karim Sunderji is the President of KRS Hospitality Group that manages a number of hospitality businesses in various parts of Ontario. He has an MBA in International Business from University of Toronto and a BA Honors in Economics and Business from York University. He is a Certified Hotel Administrator and a Family and Commercial Mediator. He is the Current Chairman of the Aga Khan Ismaili National Conciliation and Arbitration Board for Canada and the past President of the Ismaili Council for Ontario and a past Director of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada.

Dr. Marilyn Beloff
Dr. Marilyn Beloff is a Canadian psychotherapist, marital therapist, divorce mediator, divorce coach and child specialist. She holds a degree in Early Childhood Education, a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology, a PhD. In Psychology, (Depth Psychology) and has been in practice for over 20 years. Her clients find her to be a compassionate listener who is down to earth, practical, and approachable.

Melanie McLachlan
Melanie has spent the last twenty-five years helping businesses, entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations manage their financial information to assist them in making sound management decisions. In her consulting practice, her focus has been on helping her clients design practical financial systems and measures to assist them in reaching their business goals. She has a keen interest in justice issues, in mediation and other forms of alternate dispute resolution. She is currently with Mediate BC in the role of finance and operations manager and is keenly aware of the challenges faced by mediators in growing their practices.

Richard J. Olson
Richard Olson, author of A Commercial Tenancy Handbook (Carswell 2004), was called to the Bar in 1982 and is associate counsel at McKechnie & Company. Mr. Olson advises on commercial, real estate and commercial tenancy disputes and sits as an arbitrator on commercial and real estate disputes.

David Wotherspoon
David Wotherspoon, is a commercial litigator whose focus is in crisis management, data breach, social media, intellectual property, technology and defamation. He has acted for clients such as TELUS, Hermès, Emily Carr University, Nintendo, Canadian Pacific Railway, many early stage companies, and individuals. One of David’s clients has said that he “has the strongest client relationship skills of any lawyer I’ve worked with in Canada or the US. I’ve lost count of the number of matters he’s gone to court for me on, and he has never lost any of them.” When it comes to early resolution, one client said, “Any company would be well served in retaining him to advise them when they need a win-win outcome for both sides.” David is extensively engaged in pro bono cases, taking on several opportunities to represent those who would otherwise have difficulty in accessing or navigating the justice system. Many of his cases have involved protecting businesses that have been targeted in a way that requires intense and swift action and often injunctions to safeguard clients’ rights. He is consistently recommended in the world’s leading legal publications for his intellectual property law expertise.

David has been active in arbitrations. He intervened on behalf of the BC International Commercial Arbitration Center in Sattva Capital v. Creston Moly 2014 SCC 53 where he advanced an argument regarding the standard of review that courts should apply on appeal of arbitral awards. Throughout his career, in addition to court work, David has acted as counsel in arbitrations, appeals from arbitrations, and as an arbitrator. He has authored many articles, chapters and a book on law related topics as well as giving many lectures. David is actively engaged in advising clients who have been hacked and assisting them in how to respond effectively. After 25 years at a national firm, David is now a partner in the Vancouver office of MLT Aikins where he leads the litigation practice.

Dr. Roshan Danesh
Roshan is a lawyer, conflict resolution innovator, and educator whose areas of work, teaching, and writing include international peace-building, constitutional law, Indigenous rights, Islamic law, and inter-ethnic and inter-religious dialogue. Roshan completed his S.J.D at Harvard Law School and LL.B at the University of Victoria, and has taught at many academic institutions around the world including the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, European Peace University (Austria), the Justice Institute of British Columbia, and Landegg International University (Switzerland).

For the last 15 years Roshan has worked extensively on advancing Aboriginal title and rights and reconciliation. Concurrently, he has also advised governments and organizations around the world, including the United Nations, in the areas of peace-building, proactive conflict-resolution, and leadership. Roshan is one of the founders of Education for Peace, an international peace education and peace-building organization, which helped design and implement the post-war re-construction and re-integration of the education system of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Shannon Salter
Shannon Salter is the Civil Resolution Tribunal’s Chair, and an adjunct professor at the UBC Allard School of Law, teaching administrative law and legal ethics. She earned her BA and LLB from UBC, and her LLM from the University of Toronto. Ms. Salter was BC Supreme Court judicial law clerk before practicing civil litigation and serving as a vice chair of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal. Ms. Salter is a commissioner of the Financial Institutions Commission, vice president of the BC Council of Administrative Tribunals, and a board member of CanLII. She also co-authored the BC Administrative Decision Maker’s Manual.

Richard Fyfe, QC, Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Minister, Justice

Patrick Bourk
Principal, Management Risk Practice
Toronto at Integro

Patrick is the Canadian Practice Leader for Integro Insurance Brokers’ Management Risk Insurance Practice. As an insurance coverage expert, I provide technical expertise in the analysis, placement and negotiation of Management Risk insurance coverages including Cyberliability Insurance, Professional Liability Insurance for various clientele including lawyers, paralegals and mediators, and Directors’ & Officers’ Liability Insurance. I also provide claims expertise for clients by managing the claims process and advocating on their behalf.

A graduate of Windsor Law School in 1997, I began my career as an associate lawyer practicing corporate and commercial law with a regional law firm in Ontario. After moving to Toronto to work for a national law firm, I joined the Legal and Claims Department of London Guarantee Insurance Company, specializing in E&O, D&O, Employment Practices Liability, and Fidelity Claims Management. Prior to joining Integro, I was a Claims Lawyer and Underwriting Counsel for the Financial and Professional Services Group at Travelers Insurance Company and its predecessor companies. I am a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and have been a part-time instructor at Sheridan College, where I have taught courses on law for business managers. I have authored several publications in the areas of insurance coverage as it applies to corporate/commercial enterprises and have been a speaker at various conferences and symposiums focusing Cyberliability Insurance, including the Canadian Risk and Insurance Management Society’s Annual Symposium and NetDiligence Cyber Conferences both in Canada and the U.S.

Jeffrey A. Hand
Jeffrey Hand has been a practicing lawyer and member of the Law Society of British Columbia since 1990. Mr. Hand has appeared at all levels of Court in the Province of British Columbia and has had extensive involvement in mediations and arbitrations.

Mr. Hand has a broad range of experience in resolving a variety of commercial disputes, with particular emphasis on construction related claims and professional liability matters. This includes the defence of design professionals, insurance agents/brokers, real estate professionals and financial planners. His practice also includes resolving insurance coverage disputes and claims involving property damage, bodily injury, work place injuries, employment law, liability insurance, marine and transportation claims and product liability matters.

As a Chartered Mediator and Chartered Arbitrator, Mr. Hand is a roster member of the British Columbia Arbitration and Mediation Institute and a Chartered Arbitrator of the ADR Institute of Canada. He is also a member of the CDRS, International Panel of Construction ADR Specialists, an organization that provides mediation and arbitration services to the construction industry. Mr. Hand is also on the mediation Roster for WorkSafe BC, and the British Columbia Mediators Roster.

Mr. Hand sits on a number of administrative tribunals, including the Environmental Appeal Board, Property Assessment Appeal Board, Safety Standards Appeal Board, Forest Appeals Commission and the Oil & Gas Appeal Tribunal.

Mr. Hand has written and lectured on the topic of alternative dispute resolution and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law where he lectures on alternative dispute resolution and on construction law matters.

Heather Hettiarachchi
Heather is a lawyer, workplace investigator and mediator with extensive hands-on human resources management and labour relations experience. Heather is also an entrepreneur and small business owner and founder of Integritas Workplace Law.

Heather’s practice focuses on all aspects of employment and labour law arising in unionized as well as non-union, provincial and federal workplaces. She has extensive expertise in conducting workplace investigations, resolving workplace conflicts, preventing and addressing bullying and harassment WorkSafeBC compliance, accommodation and human rights, workplace restructuring and developing human resources policies.

Heather is currently an executive member of the CBA National Labour & Employment Law Section, the CBA National Constitutional and Human Rights Section and the CBA National Small, Solo and General Practice Forum. She is also Co-Chair of the CPHR BC & Yukon Richmond/Delta Roundtable. Heather’s workplace law practice is strengthened by her practical experiences as a Human Resources Manager at the University of British Columbia and Labour Relations Advisor to Vancouver Community College. In addition to an LL. B (Hons) degree, Heather also holds a Master of Science degree in Training and Human Resources Management.

Alexis Kazanowski
Alexis Kazanowski joined TRU Law as the Assistant Dean in 2016.

Prior to moving to Kamloops, Alexis was an in-house lawyer and legal editor with the Law Society of British Columbia. While there, she was responsible for administering the mandatory bar admission course (PLTC), including managing the day-to-day operations, hiring and supervising staff, and conducting legal research to ensure course material was current and accurate.

Alexis graduated from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2004 and obtained her law degree from Queen’s University in 2007. She subsequently completed her articles at Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP, a management-focused labour and employment law firm in downtown Toronto. Born and raised on Vancouver Island, Alexis returned to British Columbia following her call to the Ontario Bar and was called to the BC Bar in 2008. Prior to joining the Law Society’s PLTC Department in 2011, Alexis practiced as an Associate Lawyer with Coutts Pulver LLP (now Coutts Pulver Crawford LLP), concentrating on labour, employment, and human rights law.

Alexis is a former member of the Association of Canadian Legal Education Directors (ACLED) and has published articles in Risk Management in Canadian Education.

C.D. Saint
C.D. Saint is a mediator and Sr. Coordinator with Mediate BC’s Roster Program where he promotes mediation and helps facilitate new conversations within the DR community around processes, roles, and more. C.D. studied project management at UBC and Conflict Resolution at the European University Centre for Peace Studies (EPU) in Austria. He volunteers as Co-Chair for CLEBC’s annual Dispute Resolution Conference and as a restorative justice facilitator with the North Shore Restorative Justice Society.

Azool Jaffer-Jeraj

Azool Jaffer-Jeraj received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Victoria. He is a partner in the Vancouver firm of Dohm, Jaffer & Jeraj where he practices in the areas of Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Law, Family Law and Wills and Estates. Azool has seventeen years of combined professional experience and training and has successfully argued at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Azool is an extremely active member of the legal profession, having served on the executive of a number of legal associations, as well as volunteering extensively within the community and with Access Pro Bono. Azool served as the President for the Trial Lawyers Association of BC, and is currently a member of their Board of Governors.

He is regularly asked to speak at Continuing Legal Education and Trial Lawyers Association Seminars, as well as within the community at large. When not in trial, he makes use of mediation as a way to resolve his clients’ legal disputes. Azool is an accredited mediator both with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution in the United Kingdom and the Law Society of British Columbia. As a member of the Ismaili Conciliation and Arbitration Board for British Columbia he regularly mediates commercial, matrimonial and estate matters locally and internationally. As a mediation trainer for the International Conciliation and Arbitration Board, he has trained mediators in Canada, the United States, Australia, France, Madagascar and Tanzania. Azool speaks four languages, including Kaachi, Spanish and French.

Sue Wazny
MSc., CRC MBTI Cert.

Sue is a highly sought after speaker because of her energetic, humorous and engaging presentation style. She effectively pairs the subject theory with her poignantly relevant real life examples of how she has put her teachings into practice in her daily work. She has been an adult educator with numerous government agencies, educational institutions, social organizations and the private sector for the past 22 years. Sue delivers entertaining keynote addresses and plenary sessions at conferences on a wide variety of topics. Closer to home, she teaches a wide variety of courses in the areas of Conflict Management, Communication Skills and Anger, and provides keynote presentations on Management, Team Building and Leadership. For the past 12 years, Sue has been a faculty member at the Justice Institute of BC in the Centre for Conflict Resolution, where she teaches a variety of courses. In addition to her speaking engagements, Sue maintains a clinical practice which includes workplace mediation, team facilitations, performance coaching and critical incident stress management. She holds a Master’s of Science degree in Psychology, , certificates in Conflict Resolution and Mediation, and is a certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator practitioner.

Sharon Sutherland
Sharon Sutherland is a mediator, lawyer, and conflict resolution trainer. After 14 years as a law professor at Allard Hall, Sharon now focuses her practice on mediation, mentoring new mediators, and the development of games and tools for conflict prevention, management and resolution. Sharon is a member of Mediate BC’s Civil and Child Protection rosters, a founding member of CoRe Conflict Resolution Society, a sessional instructor at Thompson Rivers Faculty of Law, and the recipient of the 2011 Susanna Jani Award for Excellence in Mediation. Outside of her work in conflict resolution, Sharon is a director of the Vancouver Fringe Festival.

Lawrence Alexander
Lawrence Alexander is a Victoria, BC lawyer with a 24-year practice in law reform. He has practiced in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. For close to ten years he helped deputy ministers to the Premier in the BC government accomplish ambitious change. Working with the Attorney General’s office he led early experiments in ‘client-centered’ legal services. At Heenan Blaikie he co-created a “future of the legal profession” course at UBC law school. For three years he sat on an access to legal services advisory committee at the Law Society of BC.

Amanda Semenoff
Amanda is a civil mediator, facilitator and conflict resolution consultant in New Westminster, BC. She works with start-ups, entrepreneurs and tech companies to pre-wire them to thrive through conflict and change. She helps academics, project teams, sports organisations and community groups manage conflict for increased effectiveness.

Amanda is an active member of PignPotato Games. A collection of mediators, lawyers and creatives designing collaborative games to further dispute resolution, teach teamwork skills and change the dynamics of family game night.

Amanda has a background in emergency services and communications, BA(Economics) from UBC and ConRes Cert(Mediation) from JIBC. She is a member of the Ecomm911 Critical Incident Stress Team as a post-incident debriefer. She is an active community volunteer, serves on a number of non-profit boards, and coaches hockey.

Michael F. Welsh
Michael was called to the British Columbia bar in 1981 and practises primarily in the ADR field, mostly in family law mediations, as well as civil mediation and civil and family arbitration. He has been a mediator since 1997. Based in Penticton, he is a Certified Family Law Mediator and Family Law Arbitrator by the Law Society of British Columbia and is a civil mediator and arbitrator, holding the designations of C. Med., Q. Arb., and Cert.Fam.Arb. and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

He is a member of the Mediate BC Family Roster and BCAMI Civil Roster and acts as a mediator for the Law Society in fee disputes between lawyers and clients. Michael is President of the British Columbia Arbitration & Mediation Institute (BCAMI) and currently Vice-President of the BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association . He is an executive committee member of the CBA National ADR Section and Okanagan ADR Section. He writes regularly for the Advocate, a legal magazine in BC, both legal articles and as its wine columnist, and has also published several articles in BarTalk magazine and the Canadian Arbitration & Mediation Journal. He is periodically asked to talk on ADR, legal and wine-related topics for various legal groups and at continuing legal education programs.

Helmut Johannsen
Helmut K. Johannsen, P. Eng., C.Arb., FCIArb.

Helmut Johannsen’s legal practice includes all aspects of law and all types of contracts and projects relating to construction, engineering, procurement and infrastructure. He has acted as counsel on complex civil litigation cases and arbitrations, as well as sole arbitrator, dispute board member and chair of arbitration tribunals on disputes involving construction, engineering and technical matters. He also has considerable domestic and international experience in transactional work, including: strategic advice; risk mitigation; advising on project delivery systems; negotiating, drafting, tendering, awarding & interpreting contracts; insurance & bonding; and related mediation, arbitration & litigation for a wide range of projects including wind, thermal and hydro powerplants, transit projects, highways, marine facilities, pipelines, LNG facilities, and mining infrastructure. In addition to a lawyer he is a licensed Professional Engineer (BC) with a background in geotechnical, structural and municipal engineering. This complementary background, and ability to both read and understand technical drawings and specifications, is appreciated by clients, whether representing them directly or acting as arbitrator or other neutral in their disputes. He has represented owners and contractors in equal proportion over the years, as well as subcontractors, suppliers, architects and engineers, giving him a balanced perspective of the industry.

Helmut is a Chartered Arbitrator (ADR Institute of Canada), a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), Member of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation, a Fellow of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers, a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers, a Fellow of the International Academy of Construction Lawyers, a Vice‑Chair of the International Construction Projects Committee of the International Bar Association, and a director of the BC Arbitration & Mediation Institute.

Brenda Hooper
C.Med.
Vice-President, BCAMI

Brenda Hooper operates her private ADR practice where she provides conflict management coaching, training and mediation services to private companies as well as to branches of the Federal Government and their employees.

After receiving her Certification in Conflict Resolution from the Justice Institute of B.C. in 1998, Brenda began her mediation career as a panel mediator for the Insurance Dispute Resolution Program. She has since gone onto receive her Chartered Mediator designation through the ADR Institute of Canada as well as an international certification in Workplace Mediation from the Mediation Training Institute International.

Brenda has been a Director of the British Columbia Arbitration & Mediation Institute for the past 6 years and currently serves as Vice President. She in on the national training committee for the ADR Institute of Canada for the National 40 hour Mediation Training Course.

Maria Silva
Maria is the founder and principle at Burnaby Mediation Centre, a place where families and businesses are assisted in their journey toward conflict resolution. She is a family and civil mediator and is passionate about helping people resolve their differences. Maria focuses on the root of the issue in order to identify the real fears and interests thus bringing awareness to each individual on how they can explore a range of possibilities that work and work well.

Michael Butterfield
Michael Butterfield is a Collaborative Family Lawyer and ADR professional. He has practiced in Victoria for the last 16 years. During the last eight years, he has been active as a Mediator. More recently, he has expanded his practice to Arbitration. Michael was one of the first lawyers in the Province to be certified as a Family Law Arbitrator in 2013. He recently qualified as a Parenting Coordinator.

Michael has handled many high conflict files during his career. However, in recent years, he has developed his ADR practice to include construction, elder, family, contract and commercial mediation and arbitration.

Michael has written and presented on ADR issues throughout Canada. His focus has been on mediation where there is a history of violence, or where there are significant power imbalances. He has recently published on the issue of mediation clauses in Wills, and the benefits of Fast Track Arbitration.

Michael is very active in the legal and greater community. He is a former Chair of CBA –ADR Victoria, and a former member of the National Council. He is currently a volunteer with the BCAMI and recently left a position on the board of the CNIB Eye Appeal.

Ernest Thiessen
Ernest Thiessen is President & Founder of iCan Systems Inc. Dr. Thiessen has led iCan’s research and development for over two decades to implement the ICANS patent, creating the world’s first secure collaborative multiparty negotiation support system on the Internet. Thiessen has been a guest speaker at numerous forums on Online Dispute Resolution since they began in 2002. Prior to founding iCan Systems Inc. in 1993,Thiessen worked for seventeen years as a consulting engineer and researcher in Canada and in Nepal. Thiessen received his PhD degree from Cornell University in 1993, majoring in Water Resource Systems Planning and Analysis in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. While at Cornell University, Thiessen invented an efficient methodology to provide comprehensive support to the most complex negotiation problems. This methodology has been patented and is now embodied in both Smartsettle One+ (for the simplest possible cases) and Smartsettle Infinity (for the most difficult multivariate multilateral cases). Ernie is passionate about using technology for peacemaking and sustainable development.

Ryder Gilliland
Ryder practices complex litigation and dispute resolution. He regularly advises clients on matters relating to fraud, extortion and security breaches requiring internal and/or external investigation and corporate reputation management. In the cybersecurity space, Ryder has assisted clients with a variety of issues ranging from lost or stolen data, cyber-extortion threats, malware and phishing attacks and vendor service provider breaches. He is the breach coach for leading cyber-insurance provider and regularly advises clients respecting cyber-breach preparedness issues. He is a seasoned litigator with broad experience that includes appearances at the Supreme Court of Canada in several of the leading access to information and privacy cases.

Ryder regularly acts as counsel in domestic and international arbitration proceedings. He has acted as counsel under ad hoc arbitrations and arbitrations under institutional rules including ADR, ICC and AAA/ICDR. He is the Co-Chair of the Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society and a member of the Arbitration Committee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the American Arbitration Association’s International Centre Dispute Resolution (ICDR) Panel of Arbitrators.

David Merner
David Merner is the Executive Director of the BC Ministry of Justice’s Dispute Resolution Office. Prior to his call to the British Columbia bar in 1990 and the Ontario bar in 1991, David completed degrees at Harvard University, the University of Alberta, Oxford University, and the University of Toronto. He practised in various areas, including constitutional law, elections law, employment law, tax litigation, and dispute resolution at the Department of Justice and the Privy Council Office in Ottawa. David now works on the transformation of BC’s justice system, including the implementation of the Civil Resolution Tribunal, the Family Justice Solution Explorer, and the Tribunal Transformation initiative.

View the speakers for the 2020 ADRBC Symposium!