Item - 2019.CC5.5

Appointees' biographies:

Anu Bakshi

Anu Bakshi is a health justice lawyer since 2002 at Carranza LLP. Her practice consists of administrative law as well as civil litigation.  She has an Honours B.A. from the University of Saskatchewan and obtained her LL.B degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. She was one of the founders of the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario, a legal aid clinic that services the most vulnerable members of that community, and currently serves on the Board of Directors. She teaches part-time at Seneca College.

Maureen Carter-Whitney

Maureen Carter-Whitney is a lawyer and adjudicator in Toronto. She is a Member of the Condominium Authority Tribunal and her past positions have included serving as Vice-Chair of Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal and Mining and Lands Tribunal, and as Research Director of the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy. Maureen holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto, LL.B. from the University of British Columbia and LL.M. in administrative law from Osgoode Hall Law School. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Hard Feelings Mental Health.

Verlyn Francis

Verlyn Francis is a lawyer, arbitrator, mediator and published author. She is Principal Consultant at Isiko Dispute Resolution Consultants, roster arbitrator at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, teaches Alternative Dispute Resolution at Centennial College and is a guest lecturer in Osgoode Hall Law School’s LL.M. Dispute Resolution Program. She holds an LL.M in Dispute Resolution from Osgoode Hall Law School. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1997. She has served on several boards including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Board of Trade, Toronto Community Foundation, and Youth Challenge Fund.

Melina Laverty

Melina Laverty has been a member of the Toronto Licensing Tribunal for several years. She also works at a regulatory college, where she attends Committee hearings and assists with decision administration. Prior to this, she worked at the Ministry of the Environment and a Bay Street law firm. Before studying law, Melina worked for eight years in international conservation with New York's American Museum of Natural History. She has served on the Board of several daycares in Toronto.

Mary Lee

Mary Lee became the Local Planning Appeal Support Centre’s first Executive Director, April 2018. Mary has had numerous leadership roles in her career working for provincial government ministries, boards and tribunals. An expert in mediation, adjudication, operations and business services, Mary has been the director of strategic business services for Ontario’s tribunal clusters (Social Justice Tribunals Ontario and Safety, Licensing Appeals and Standards Tribunals Ontario) and oversaw the province-wide operation of 8 boards and tribunals while Director of Operations. She holds a LL.M from Osgoode Hall Law School.

Edgar-Andre Montigny

Edgar-Andre Montigny was an academic teaching at various universities when his volunteer work at Neighbourhood Legal Services inspired him to become a lawyer. Ed was called to the bar in 2003 after articling as a judicial law clerk focusing on administrative law issues. From 2009 until 2016, he was a staff lawyer at ARCH Disability Law Centre working on accommodation and human rights issues. In 2017, Ed established his own practice focussing on issues of consent, capacity and substitute decision-making.

Daphne Simon

Daphne Simon is a non-practicing lawyer who has worked in the public sector over the last 25 years. She represented clients from equality seeking communities as a clinic lawyer for Legal Aid Ontario. She then worked as Associate Registrar in The Law Society of Upper Canada's Licensing Process for 11 years.  Daphne now works as an independent consultant in the regulatory community, including acting as the Executive Director for The Society of Ontario Adjudicators and Regulators.