Speaker Bios

Biographies of Webinar Speakers

Tribunal Independence and Impartiality Webinar: May 25th, 2021

Laverne Jacobs

Laverne Jacobs is Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies) and an Associate Professor and at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law. She teaches, researches and writes in the areas of administrative law, human rights, and law and disability. Her work is characterized by an interest and engagement in the everyday work of the administrative justice system. She has published and presented widely in her fields, both in Canada and internationally. Her publications include “The Dynamics of Independence, Impartiality, and Bias in the Canadian Administrative State” in Administrative Law in Context, 3d edition (2018); “From Rawls to Habermas: Toward A Theory of Grounded Impartiality in Canadian Administrative Law” (2014) Osgoode Hall L.J. and “‘Humanizing’ Disability Law: Citizen Participation in the Development of Accessibility Regulations in Canada” (2016) Revue Internationale des Gouvernements Ouverts. Outside of the University, Professor Jacobs has held Order-in-Council appointments as a part-time member of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and as a member of the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. She has also served on Ontario’s Condominium Authority Tribunal, the province’s first online tribunal. In 2014, Dr Jacobs held the inaugural Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Canadian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a Visiting Scholar at Berkeley Law’s Center for the Study of Law and Society. Laverne has been the recipient of awards for her research and equity leadership (including the 2021 Touchstone Award from the CBA) which collectively aim to ensure a more equitable, inclusive and fair administrative justice system.

Marion Overholt

Marion Overholt is the Executive Director of Community Legal Aid and Legal Assistance of Windsor. She has practiced law for 38 years and appeared before a variety of administrative tribunals and courts.

Gary Yee

(former tribunal chair)

Gary Yee is a lawyer with an unparalleled career in the adjudicative tribunal sector, as well as an extensive history of involvement in issues of social justice and access to justice. He has been appointed as chair of four tribunals over a 25-year period. In 2019, he retired from his last appointment, as part-time Chair of the Toronto Licensing Tribunal. Before that, he had been appointed full-time Chair of the Licence Appeal Tribunal (2012), Social Benefits Tribunal (2009), and the police complaints Board of Inquiry (1993). His recent consultancy work includes the new online Condominium Authority Tribunal, the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council, and the Electrical Safety Authority. Gary’s past positions include special advisor at the Immigration and Refugee Board, manager of legal services at Ombudsman Ontario, and executive director of the Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic.

Gary is on the Steering Committee of Tribunal Watch Ontario, and is a Vice-President of Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice (CCNC-SJ). He has been on the Executive and Boards of CCAT (Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals) and SOAR (Society of Ontario Adjudicators and Regulators). Gary has received the SOAR Medal for his contributions to administrative justice, the Public Sector Lawyer Award from the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, and the Law Society Medal.

Paul Daly

Associate Professor Paul Daly holds the University Research Chair in Administrative Law & Governance at the University of Ottawa, to which he was recruited from the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge. Previously, he was successively Assistant Professor, Associate Dean and Associate Professor at the Faculté de droit, Université de Montréal and held visiting positions at Harvard Law School and Université Paris II, Panthéon-Assas. A graduate of University College Cork (B.C.L., LL.M.), the University of Pennsylvania Law School (LL.M.) and the University of Cambridge (Ph.D.), his influential, award-winning scholarly work on public law – dozens of books, peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and shorter pieces – has been widely cited, including by the Supreme Court of Canada, various other Canadian courts and tribunals, the High Court of Australia, the Irish Supreme Court and the New Zealand Supreme Court. His blog, Administrative Law Matters, was the first blog ever cited by the Supreme Court of Canada. Notable publications include A Theory of Deference in Administrative Law: Basis, Application and Scope (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and Understanding Administrative Law in the Common Law World (Oxford University Press, 2021). Since September 2019 he has been a part-time member of the Environmental Protection Tribunal of Canada.

Tribunal Competence and Expertise Webinar: June 1st, 2021

Marion Overholt

Marion Overholt is the Executive Director of Community Legal Aid and Legal Assistance of Windsor. She has practiced law for 38 years and appeared before a variety of administrative tribunals and courts.

Michael Gottheil

Michael Gottheil is the Chief of Commission and Tribunal of the Alberta Human Rights Commission, a role he assumed in August 2018. 

Mr. Gottheil brings many years of leadership experience in the Administrative Justice sector, having previously served as Chair of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and Executive Chair of both the Environment and Land Tribunals Ontario and the Social Justice Tribunals Ontario. A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, he also practiced labour, employment and human rights law for close to 20 years.

Mr. Gottheil is committed to fostering collaboration among those in the legal community and across civil society more broadly. Throughout his career, he has had the good fortune to work on initiatives that seek to make justice more accessible, efficient, effective, and responsive to the needs of the public.

Paul Daly

Associate Professor Paul Daly holds the University Research Chair in Administrative Law & Governance at the University of Ottawa, to which he was recruited from the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge. Previously, he was successively Assistant Professor, Associate Dean and Associate Professor at the Faculté de droit, Université de Montréal and held visiting positions at Harvard Law School and Université Paris II, Panthéon-Assas. A graduate of University College Cork (B.C.L., LL.M.), the University of Pennsylvania Law School (LL.M.) and the University of Cambridge (Ph.D.), his influential, award-winning scholarly work on public law – dozens of books, peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and shorter pieces – has been widely cited, including by the Supreme Court of Canada, various other Canadian courts and tribunals, the High Court of Australia, the Irish Supreme Court and the New Zealand Supreme Court. His blog, Administrative Law Matters, was the first blog ever cited by the Supreme Court of Canada. Notable publications include A Theory of Deference in Administrative Law: Basis, Application and Scope (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and Understanding Administrative Law in the Common Law World (Oxford University Press, 2021). Since September 2019 he has been a part-time member of the Environmental Protection Tribunal of Canada.

Lori Mishibinijima

Lori Mishibinijima is Anishinaabe from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory in Ontario. She is currently the Manager of Indigenous Initiatives at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she supports the Indigenization of the school and curriculum. Lori was Legal Counsel with the Human Rights Legal Support Centre for 10 years, where she provided legal representation to individuals respecting matters of discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code. She also acted as coordinator and helped develop the HRLSC’s Indigenous Service where she supported access to justice for Indigenous people. For the last sixteen years, she has been a member of the Community Council, a criminal diversion program at Aboriginal Legal Services. Lori has also served as the President of Native Men’s Residence Board of Directors from 2011 to 2018.

Laverne Jacobs

Laverne Jacobs is Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies) and an Associate Professor and at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law. She teaches, researches and writes in the areas of administrative law, human rights, and law and disability. Her work is characterized by an interest and engagement in the everyday work of the administrative justice system. She has published and presented widely in her fields, both in Canada and internationally. Her publications include “The Dynamics of Independence, Impartiality, and Bias in the Canadian Administrative State” in Administrative Law in Context, 3d edition (2018); “From Rawls to Habermas: Toward A Theory of Grounded Impartiality in Canadian Administrative Law” (2014) Osgoode Hall L.J. and “‘Humanizing’ Disability Law: Citizen Participation in the Development of Accessibility Regulations in Canada” (2016) Revue Internationale des Gouvernements Ouverts. Outside of the University, Professor Jacobs has held Order-in-Council appointments as a part-time member of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and as a member of the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. She has also served on Ontario’s Condominium Authority Tribunal, the province’s first online tribunal. In 2014, Dr Jacobs held the inaugural Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Canadian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a Visiting Scholar at Berkeley Law’s Center for the Study of Law and Society. Laverne has been the recipient of awards for her research and equity leadership (including the 2021 Touchstone Award from the CBA) which collectively aim to ensure a more equitable, inclusive and fair administrative justice system.