FOLa's SPRING 2023 PLENARY

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Ms. Henein is widely recognized as one of the most prominent litigators in Canada, with extensive experience as lead counsel on high-profile criminal, civil, and regulatory cases. In addition to her broad criminal law practice, Ms. Henein’s experience includes acting as lead counsel for plaintiffs and defendants in class actions and in respect of major civil and commercial disputes. Ms. Henein has argued at all levels of court, including the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.

As litigation counsel in complex criminal, multimillion dollar commercial and civil disputes, she is known for deftly managing challenges, fearlessly navigating crises, and achieving superior results for clients, both in and out of the courtroom.

Ms. Henein received her LL.B. in 1989 from Osgoode Hall Law School and her Masters in Law from Columbia University in 1991. Ms. Henein is the Past President of The Advocates’ Society (2010-2011). She is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is one of the founders of the Court of Appeal’s Appellate Duty Counsel Program.

Ms. Henein is a frequent lecturer nationally. She was an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School where she was co-chair of the Masters of Law Program. She frequently lectures at the Law Society of Ontario, The Advocates’ Society, the Ontario Bar Association, Criminal Lawyers’ Association and the National Judicial Institute in numerous areas including trial advocacy, evidence and appellate advocacy.

She is the author of her memoir, Nothing But The Truth, is co-editor of Martin’s Criminal Code, Martin’s Annual Criminal Practice, and Martin’s Related Criminal Statutes. She is the Associate Editor of the Canadian Criminal Cases.

Ms. Henein is the recipient of the 2013 Laura Legge Award and has repeatedly been named one of Canada’s 25 Most Influential Lawyers by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. In 2017, Ms.

Henein was the recipient of The Law Society Medal for outstanding service to the administration of justice.

Called to the Ontario bar in 1992.

Jacqueline Horvat was elected as Treasurer by the Law Society’s governing body (Convocation) on June 15, 2022 and she took office on June 28, 2022. The Treasurer is the top-elected official of the Law Society, which regulates Ontario’s lawyers and paralegals in the public interest. She is the sixth woman Treasurer in the 225-year history of the Law Society.

Treasurer Horvat was first elected a Bencher in 2011 and was serving her third term when she was elected. She was called to the Ontario bar in 2002.

She is a litigation lawyer and a founding partner of Spark Law, a seven-lawyer full-service firm, which provides her with a close-up view of the issues and daily worries faced by sole and small practice lawyers across the Province.

Treasurer Horvat has a broad and varied corporate/commercial litigation practice representing both plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial disputes, class action litigation and appeals. She has appeared at all levels of court in Ontario, the Federal Court Trial Division and the Federal Court of Appeal.

Her external appointments include:

• Second Vice-President and Ontario representative on the Council of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada:
  • Chair of the National Requirement Review
  • Member of the National Committee on Accreditation and the Public Affairs and Government Relations Committee
  • Past Member of the Standing Committee on the Model Code of Professional Conduct
• Past Director of Library Co. Inc.
• Past Director of the Ontario Judicial Education Network
• Member of the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments

Splitting her time between Windsor and Toronto, Jacqueline is also an occasional instructor and frequent guest lecturer at University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law. She is also involved in collaborative projects with the University of Windsor, including the Reclaim Pro Bono Project which provides free legal advice and representation to clients who have suffered technology facilitated violence, including the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, online harassment, sextortion, public disclosure of private facts, voyeurism, and impersonation.

Contact the Treasurer at treasurer@lso.ca.

Diana Miles, BA, LLB, CDir., joined the Law Society of Ontario in 2001 as the Executive Director of Professional Development and Competence. She has since held numerous positions in the organization in addition to the competence portfolio, including Executive Director of Organizational Strategy, of Communications and of Professional Regulation. Diana was appointed Acting CEO in September 2017 and CEO in March 2018. 

Throughout her career at the Law Society, Diana has provided proactive and effective policy-oriented leadership to the Board while overseeing significant operational portfolios. Her responsibilities have included strategic and operational planning, financial management, governance assessment, board education, creation of defensible and valid licensure systems, provision of resources and supports for legal practitioners, and the development of progressive regulation, risk management and quality assurance for lawyer and paralegal licensees and their legal practices.

Prior to joining the Law Society, Diana was the Chief Operating Officer of a large Toronto law firm and in that capacity supported business development, client services, firm administration, strategic planning and financial accountability. 

Diana has been a business executive for over 25 years, and has certifications from Rotman, Ivey, Smith and Harvard Schools of Business on a range of strategy, financial, leadership and management topics. She has extensive governance and board experience, is a Chartered Director (CDir), and has worked with private and not-for-profit boards as a board member and governance facilitator in the education, energy, health care, insurance and professional services sectors. 

Teresa Donnelly has been a lawyer with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General since 1994. During that time, she has been an Assistant Crown Attorney in the Region of Waterloo and the County of Huron (1994-2011), the Crown Attorney for the County of Huron (2011-2015); the West Region Sexual Violence Crown, Sexual Violence Advisory Group (2015-2020, 2022-) and Counsel conducting a review of the Direct Accountability Program (DAP) at the Ministry (2022). 

As West Region Sexual Violence Crown she was one of 7 full-time prosecutors in Ontario dedicated to enhancing the quality of sexual violence prosecutions and the victim’s experience in the criminal justice system. As a Crown, Teresa has been dedicated to prosecutions involving violence against women and children – both domestic violence and sexual violence. 

Teresa was elected as a Bencher with the Law Society of Ontario in 2015 and 2019. She was elected the Treasurer or President of the Law Society of Ontario from June 2020-June 2022. Teresa was the fifth woman Treasurer in the 223 year history of the Law Society of Ontario. As Treasurer her focus included the mental health of legal practitioners, EDI, reconciliation, the competence and ethical responsibilities of lawyers and paralegals, and the important role that paralegals play in access to justice in Ontario. Teresa is a Council member on Board of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and a faculty member of the National Criminal Law Program.

Michael Wilson is a partner in the litigation group at Goodmans LLP.

Michael previously served as the chief of staff to the Attorney General of Ontario. Providing strategic counsel to two successive Attorneys General, Michael led the development and implementation of legislative reforms relating to a range of issues, including Ontario’s crown liability, class action, and civil forfeiture regimes. He routinely advised on policy development related to regulated professions and industries, including those regulated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (alcohol, gaming, and cannabis).   

Since returning to private practice, Michael is regularly called upon to advise and represent clients in connection with administrative and regulatory matters, including to develop legislative and regulatory proposals that respond to complex and urgent policy challenges.

Gina Alexandris is on a mission to help individuals and organizations lead and perform at their peak, in a respectful, engaged and authentic manner.  As a trained and certified Coach, Gina supports clients to see past their barriers, explore possibilities and move beyond what they know to design and achieve the career they want and deserve.  Yes, the process can get messy and uncomfortable...but that is exactly where and how growth and transformation occur!

A wide variety of experiences have shaped Gina in her current role of Career Coach & Professional Development Consultant, including supporting thousands of professionals over the years in their journey of career transformation and professional development.  Her beliefs and values have been shaped by her professional and academic experiences, as well as her experience as the daughter of Greek immigrants to Canada.  

Past “formal” roles, which offered Gina strong foundations and insights into Career Coaching include:

· Senior Director, Law Practice Program at TMU (formerly Ryerson University); 

· Special Advisor for the development and launch of the Lincoln Alexander School of Law (where I continue to teach Emotional and Cultural Intelligence and support it Admissions process); 

· Director of the Strategic Planning Unit with the Legal Services Division at the Ministry of the Attorney General; 

· Director of the Internationally Trained Lawyers Program at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law; 

· Assistant Dean (Student Services) and Founder and Director of Career Services at Osgoode Hall Law School; 

· Associate in a Civil Litigation and Family Law practice

Gina is passionate about personal and professional success and development; leadership; equity, diversity and inclusion.  And as the Founder and Chief Enthusiasm Officer of her company, she enjoys celebrating clients'  achievements, however small or large!

Richard Maxwell is a media trainer and presentation coach, who advises people on how best to respond to challenging questions and project a confident image.

His clients include employees, managers, and high-level executives in a wide range of sectors including oil and gas, media, aerospace, pharmaceutical, high-tech, healthcare, and the banking and investment industries. He also advises non-profit organizations, government officials, and political leaders.

Before starting his own firm, Richard worked with his friend and colleague, Jeff Ansell, at Jeff Ansell & Associates for many years.

Formerly an award-winning broadcaster, Richard has worked at some of North America’s biggest media outlets including XM Satellite Radio and the CHUM Radio Network. 

Richard is a broadcast professional with over 30 years of experience in major market radio and his skills as a reporter give trainees greater insight into how news stories are created.

In television, Richard worked as a writer, director, and producer.

Since becoming a lawyer 25 years ago, Colin has spent his career at the intersection of law and technology. The first half, in varied in-house roles among national telcos and cablecos during the digital communications and internet boom, and the next half squarely in legal information and technology leadership and entrepreneurial roles. 

As CEO of CanLII (2011 - 2015), he brought forward innovations in community publishing and integrated open access secondary source publishing. During that period he was named among the Fastcase50, the ABA Journal Legal Rebels, and Canadian Lawyer Magazine's Top 25 Most Influential. Work since then has included co-founding legal publisher Compass (2016), serving on the global executive committee and as GM of North America for vLex, (2018-2020), founding the non-profit Legal Innovation Data Institute (2020) and co-founding a legal AI startup Jurisage. Over the past decade he’s been a regular speaker and frequent commentator on legal innovation topics, and has routinely consulted on legal market and technology topics for law firms, law schools, judges, legal aid organizations, bar associations and several legal tech startups.

Priya is the Executive Director, Professional Development & Competence at the Law Society of Ontario where she oversees strategic planning, policies, and programs related to entry-level and continuing competence for lawyers and paralegals. Prior to that, Priya held a variety of management roles in the licensing and accreditation areas. In particular, Priya led the implementation of the Continuing Professional Development requirement for licensees in 2011 and the introduction of the Law Practice Program from 2012 to 2018.

Priya has been actively engaged in shaping legal regulation at a national level and currently sits on the National Requirement Review Committee and the National Committee on Accreditation Assessment Modernization Committee for the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. Priya is also the Vice Chair of the Executive Leadership Program Committee for the Council for Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR). She has served as the President of the Association of Continuing Legal Education Directors (Canada) and the Chair of the Ontario Regulators for Accessibility Consortium. Priya is a frequent presenter on topics of competence, licensing, and credentialing. 

Prior to joining the Law Society, Priya practised civil and commercial litigation at a major Bay Street law firm. She holds a certificate in Adult Training and Development from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and has attended executive training programs at Rotman, Schulich, and Queen’s. She has a JD from the University of Ottawa and a Certificate in Adult Education from OISE. 

Jennifer is the Director, Practice Supports & Resources at the Law Society of Ontario where she oversees the development and delivery of supports and resources to lawyers and paralegals in furtherance of the Law Society’s competence mandate. New to this role, Jennifer was previously the Manager, Complaints & Compliance where she managed the department that is the initial intake for all complaints to the Law Society, as well as for the processing of several by-law related application types including Licensing Following Surrender and Foreign Legal Consultant applications. While in this role, Jennifer also led a large, multi-streamed business transformation project at the Law Society that successfully modernization a number of Law Society processes. This included a streamlined annual report, creating a paralegal insurance portlet, and other by-law driven changes. 

Immediately prior to joining the Law Society, Jennifer practised immigration law at a big four accounting firm. She has served as the Chair of the Ontario Bar Association’s Immigration Section, the Chair of the Canada Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and is a founding member of the Canadian Immigration Lawyer’s Association. While in practice, Jennifer wrote a regular column on immigration law for Canadian Lawyer Online Magazine and spoke frequently at conferences. Jennifer is currently enrolled with the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. 

Kathryn is a Business Consultant with Lawyers Financial.

Kathryn’s financial stewardship provides clients with long-term solutions to grow and protect their wealth. Acting as a business consultant first, she creates tailor-made insurance plans to help clients revitalize their business and manage risk.

With more than 10 years of experience as an advisor in private corporations and the not-for-profit sector, Kathryn has successfully consulted clients ranging from public corporations to individuals and families.

Cindy Blancher is a Registered Nurse who spent 15 years working on an acute admitting ward at a provincial psychiatric hospital. She obtained a law degree from Windsor and then her Masters of Law from Dalhousie, concentrating on Health Law. After articling with the Ministry of the Attorney General, Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee, she started as Counsel in 2000. Now considered “Senior Counsel,” she has spent her whole career there. In 2005 Cindy had her first major depressive illness, which has been followed by reoccurring episodes.

Presently on Long Term Disability she focuses on her advocacy work with Voices for Mental Health, which she founded with 6 others in 2018.

Stephanie Marchello is lawyer with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.  She obtained an honours politics degree from Queen’s University and her law degree from Osgoode.  Stephanie was called to the bar in 2017 and began as Counsel at the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee and is now Counsel at the Ministry of Health.  

After experiencing her own mental health difficulties that started in law school, Stephanie is passionate about advocating for improved mental health in the legal profession.  She is a founding member of the Voices for Mental Health. 

Stephen Lockwood is a Deputy Director with the Legal Services Branch – Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and has worked on a range of land use planning and municipal law matters. 

Stephen is an advocate for mental health in the legal profession, speaking from his lived experience. He is a member of Voices for Mental Health.  

Voices for Mental Health is made up of Ministry of the Attorney General ("MAG") employees committed to ending the stigma and isolation surrounding mental illness.    Established in 2018 6 people came together to simply “do something.” In its first year of existence the group was awarded the Deputy’s Award of Excellence and received the Inaugural Mental Health Champion Award established by MAG. Entirely composed of people who volunteer their time they are committed to building a healthy, supportive and inclusive legal workplace at MAG.

Voices offer mental health education sessions within MAG and beyond where the focus is on speakers sharing their stories of lived mental health experience. Voices believe that through telling stories of lived experience and allowing room for an open exchange of information and ideas that the isolation and stigma surrounding mental illness is reduced. 

The group now has a speaker’s bureau of over 50 people who are willing to talk about their mental health. To date sessions have been presented on anxiety, depression, mindfulness, suicidality, parenting during the pandemic, addiction, perfectionism, returning to work post COVID, diet culture, grief, racism and mental health, Indigenous healing and mentoring during articling. 

Perhaps our most signature event, Turning the Tables on Mental Health, begins with a panel of people recounting their lived or shared experience. After a break, each member of the panel, plus other people from Voices, join the audience at their table. For approximately 15 minutes attendees can ask questions in a more intimate setting or, listen to one of the speakers continue to share their story. This program has received very positive feedback and we look forward to beginning it again now that the pandemic restrictions have loosened.

Additionally, Voices runs a peer-to-peer support program on Tuesdays from 4:30-5:30 p.m. to which all MAG employees are welcome. Each participant has an opportunity to share how they are doing and others have an opportunity offer empathy and suggestions for what has worked well them to overcome their challenges

“THANKS BUT NO THANKS:  How your “helpful advice" to a person with a mental illness may do more harm than good.”

Maybe you’re experiencing mental illness.  Or perhaps you have a friend, a loved one or a co-worker who you think may be. It’s hard to know what to say to support someone and sometimes our good intentions actually make things worse.

Stephanie Marchello, Stephen Lockwood and Cindy Blancher, all counsel in the Ontario Public Services and members of the advocacy group “Voices for Mental Health, will tell you about their own lived experience with mental illness, offer some information regarding mental health in general and illustrate how best to support someone going through a challenging time.

STARTING A MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY GROUP Guidance from Voices for Mental Health 

GUIDE TO MENTAL HEALTH & ADDICTION RESOURCES