Joel is a retired member of the bars of British Columbia and Ontario with over 35 years of experience in civil dispute matters primarily concerning commercial contract, non-union employment matters and insurance claims. As counsel, Joel has represented plaintiffs/claimants and defendant/respondents at hearings, trials and on appeals, before administrative tribunals, and in ADR proceedings.

Joel has long been active in legal education. He was Deputy Director of Education for the Law Society of Upper Canada (now, Ontario). He has created and led numerous litigation- and ADRC related workshops for law societies and bar associations across Canada. He has taught at the Bar Admission Course in Ontario and the Professional Legal Training Course in British Columbia. Joel has been recognized by The Advocates’ Society (Ontario) with its Distinction in Teaching Award.

Joel holds a certificate in mediation training from the Dispute Resolution Center of King County (Seattle, WA) and a Q.Arb designation in arbitration from the ADR Institute of Canada (Vancouver, BC). He was co-chair of the arbitration track of workshops at the 2019 Annual Symposium of the ADR Institute of BC. More recently, he has acted as sole arbitrator in auto valuation and government contract payment disputes. He as also acted as chair of a 3-person discipline panel concerning an amateur sport matter. As counsel, he has appeared in over 200 mediations.

Associations

ADR Institute of Canada

ADR Institute of British Columbia

Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution

The Advocates’ Society

The Legal Writing Institute

Law Society of British Columbia (2008)

Law Society of Ontario (1973)

Awards

The Advocates’ Society (2005) – Excellence in Teaching

 Publications

 Created 100+ workshop manuals including mock cases and litigation skills instruction for civil litigation workshops.

University of Toronto – BSc (1968)

University of Windsor – JD (1971)