Michael F. Welsh
Michael F. Welsh, KC, FCIArb., C.Fam Arb.
Lawyer
Law office of Michael Welsh Dispute Resolution, Penticton, BC (British Columbia), CA (Canada)
ADR Certified Designation : C. Arb and C. Med
VanIAC Panel(s) : Domestic Arbitration, Mediation, Underinsured Motorist Protection (UMP)
Practice Areas : Construction, Consumer, Corporate Commercial, Employment, Government, Indigenous, Insurance and Reinsurance, Personal Injury, Real Estate, Wills and Estates
I am a lawyer with 40 years of litigation experience, having been lead counsel on over a thousand hearings, trials and appeals in all levels of court in this province and in the Supreme Court of Canada, including some 50 formally reported decisions and well over 100 posted on CanLii. Through my professional experience and as a member of professional, wine industry and community organizations I am well-versed in in problem and dispute resolution and in understanding and working with people in difficult situations toward a positive outcome. An effective communicator, I have the ability to assess problems expeditiously and to relate to people from all walks of life. As one who sees life as an opportunity to learn, I never let my mind get stale, but rather seek to educate myself in a wide range of areas. I have taken that learning and passed it on writing, including articles in the Advocate, Bartalk and Canadian Arbitration and Mediation Journal magazines, as author of the Advocate Wine Column and serving as a faculty member in many continuing legal educational conferences and seminars. I have also authored a number of decisions for the BCCRT and Law Society.
Dispute Resolution Experience and Training- Family Law Arbitration LAW SOCIETY OF BC (July, 2013)
- Family Law Mediation LAW SOCIETY OF BC (August, 2013)
- Arbitration Part II – Conduct of Arbitration Proceedings, ADR Institute
of BC (October 2012) – 95% grade - Arbitration Part III – Arbitration Workshop, ADR Institute of BC
(November 2011) – 98% grade - Advanced Civil Mediation, CLEBC (February 1997)
- Family Law Mediation, CLEBC (July 1997)
- Numerous other workshops, seminars, conferences, symposiums as presenter
and participant.
- 2017 – Appointed Queen’s Counsel, province of British Columbia
- 2016-2017 – President, Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch
- 2015-2016 – President, ADR Institute of British Columbia
- 2018-present – Bencher, Law Society of British Columbia
- 2015 – Chartered Mediator (C.Med.) ADR Institute of Canada
- 2013 – Certified family Mediator (C.Fam Arb.) ADR Institute of British Columbia
- 2020 – Chartered Arbitrator (C.Arb.) ADR Institute of Canada
- 2011 – Fellow (FCIArb.) International Institute of Arbitrators – London, UK
Certified family mediator and family law arbitrator: Law Society of BC
B.A. (cum laude in philosophy): Cornell University, 1975
LL.B. University of British Columbia, 1980
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