Michael Welsh was called to the British Columbia bar in 1981 and practises as a mediator and arbitrator in family, estate, employment and workplace, commercial and civil law matters, as well as community-based mediation. He also regularly conducts mediations of employment-related prohibited action complaints to WorkSafe BC and does UMP and other arbitrations. In his litigation and appellate practice he has been counsel in well over a thousand trials and appeals, including before the Supreme Court of Canada. Michael was appointed Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) by the Province of BC in 2017. Holding designations of C. Med. and C. Arb from ADR Canada, he is a Law Society Certified Family Law Mediator and Family Law Arbitrator and is a civil mediator and arbitrator.

Michael is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a panel member for domestic arbitrations and mediations with the Vancouver International Arbitration Centre (VanIAC), a member of the ADRBC Civil Roster and acts as a mediator for the Law Society in fee disputes between lawyers and clients. Michael has been a Bencher of the Law Society of BC for the Okanagan District since 2018 and amongst other committee appointments is Chair of the Legal Innovation Sandbox Advisory Group. He is a Past President of both ADRBC and the CBABC. Between 2017 and 2020 he was appointed by the BC government as a Tribunal Member of the Civil Resolution Tribunal. Michael 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.