Guest Speaker: Michael Welsh, Q.C.

A Bencher of the Law Society of BC, a Past President of both the BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association and of the ADR Institute of BC (ADRBC), Mr. Welsh is a lawyer with 37 years of litigation experience, both in trials and on appeals in all levels of court in this province and in the Supreme Court of Canada. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Chartered Mediator, Chartered Arbitrator, certified family law mediator, Certified Family Arbitrator and roster member on the Mediate BC Med-Arb roster and ADRBC Civil Roster.

Between 2018 and 2020 Mr, Welsh was appointed by the BC government as a part-time Tribunal adjudicator with the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal. Through his professional experience and as a member of professional and community organizations he is well versed in in problem and dispute resolution and in understanding and working with people in difficult situations toward a positive outcome.

Between 1997 and 2007, he also operated a commercial vineyard, and through that experience and his experience as proprietor and partner in law firms, has a good knowledge and ability to manage staff and business operations. An effective communicator, he has 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, he seeks to educate himself in a wide range of areas.

He has taken that learning and passed it on writing and as faculty in continuing legal educational conferences and seminars, including articles in the Advocate, Canadian Arbitration & Mediation Journal and BarTalk magazines and as author of the Advocate Wine Column.