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Chris is the Managing Director of the Legal Innovation Zone (LIZ) and the Law Practice Program (LPP), both housed at Ryerson University, Toronto. Chris co-founded LIZ, the world’s first incubator dedicated to legal tech, to help develop and deliver better legal solutions to consumers. Chris led the development of the LPP, a modern approach to lawyer licensing authorized by the Law Society of Ontario.

Chris was elected as an Ontario MPP for London West from 2003-2013. He was a member of Cabinet for all 10 years, serving as Minister in 5 Cabinet posts: 4 years as Attorney General, as well as Labour, Training Colleges and Universities, Aboriginal Affairs, and Energy. He drove a number of change initiatives, such as Justice on Target (that reduced, for the first time in 18 years, the time to trial and the number of court appearances per criminal case), a health and safety initiative that reduced workplace injuries by 20 % in 3 years, the 4 Pillars of Family Reform, Civil Justice Reform, the largest funding increase in Legal Aid’s history, and was part of a new approach to indigenous relations recognized by the United Nations. He also helped drive the implementation of the Reaching Higher investments in postsecondary education.

For 23 years before politics Chris practiced criminal defence and labour law. He taught part-time for 10 of those years at Western’s Law School, and helped establish and became the first Chairperson of Neighbourhood Legal Services, London and Middlesex, which provides legal services to those who cannot afford them. U of T Law and Cambridge U grad, Chris enjoys life with his wife, Wendy, and 2 daughters. He also runs, and has run 3 Boston Marathons

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Hersh Perlis is the co-founder and Director of the Legal Innovation Zone (LIZ) at Ryerson University. Hersh briefly left the LIZ to become Chief of Staff of Deloitte’s Artificial Intelligence practice - Omnia. Prior to coming to Ryerson he spent almost 5 years at Queens Park as a Senior Advisor to several ministers.

Hersh oversaw a number of initiatives while at Deloitte including the integration of the firms AI practice in Chile and with the development and execution of strategic programs to help continue the rapid growth of Deloitte’s AI practice. While at Queens Park he created, expanded and oversaw a number of key initiatives on behalf of the government. These included the 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games as well as other initiatives such as the Industrial Electricity Incentive Program and the Right to Play program for rural and remote First Nation communities. Prior to his time in government he was Director of Development for a national not-for-profit organization. Sports, politics and the lake are his passion and he enjoys them with his wife and two sons.

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Barbara is President of Separation Pathways, a national non-profit offering affordable out of court solutions for separating families. She is a Psychologist, Lawyer, Chartered Mediator, Certified Comprehensive Family Mediator and Chartered Arbitrator. Barbara has successfully resolved numerous family law disputes, including parenting plans, financial issues, family business, estate, and workplace issues.

Dr. Landau was awarded the Order of Canada in 2021 for her contribution to family mediation and to championing a model that is affordable and less adversarial in the interest of children. As a psychologist and lawyer, Barbara has advocated for human rights, mental health reforms, and interfaith cooperation.

Barbara is a past president of the Ontario Association of Family Mediation, and the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario and Vice-President of the ADR Institute of Ontario as well as the ADR Section of the Bar Association. Together with Tom Dart and Judith Huddart, she was the principal author of the Report to Ontario’s Attorney General, Chris Bentley, “Home Court Advantage: Creating A Family Law Process that Works” in 2010 that resulted in significant changes across Ontario Family Courts in the practice of family law. She is also the principal author with Lorne Wolfson and other leading family professionals of “The Family Mediation, Arbitration & Collaborative Practice Handbook” (6th ed), 2018.

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Tom was called to the bar in 1976. In the early stages of his career, he practiced as a criminal lawyer, a civil litigation lawyer and a family law lawyer. He now practices only in the area of family law and alternative dispute resolution. Tom has appeared at all levels of Court in Ontario from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to the Ontario Court of Appeal. He has conducted many trials and many successful negotiations.

He is the past president of the Family Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association; currently on committees to reform the family court system.He is also a member of the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association and past president of Family Mediation Canada.He is a past vice- president of the Simcoe County Lawyers' Association and past president of the Simcoe County Family Law Lawyers' Association. He is also the past president of the Ontario Association for Family Mediation. Tom is a Leader with Separation Pathways, a non-profit offering affordable out of court solutions for separating families.

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Neil Maisel is a partner in the Valuations | Forensics | Litigation Group at Crowe Soberman. Neil plays an integral part in the firm’s leadership as the firm’s Ethics Officer. For 16 years he also served as a member of the Management Committee. Neil brings a wealth of experience, having worked in the tax and assurance and advisory practices. For more than 30 years, Neil’s practice focused on matrimonial matters, shareholder disputes, corporate and commercial damage claims, business valuations and other litigation support.

Neil enjoys lecturing on a number of topics, some of which are accredited presentations, and has authored numerous articles on topics including business valuation, litigation, family law and tax matters. Neil has also been active in the community and the current Chair of FDRIO and is an Honorary Director of the Asthma Society of Canada.

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Judith has been a family law lawyer for over 37 years. Throughout her career she has been an active volunteer, including: as a Board member of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), a Past Chair of the CBA’s National Family Law Section and a Past Chair of the Ontario Bar Association’s Family Law Section. Judith supports cost-effective consensual dispute resolution options for families going through separation. She is trained in both Collaborative Practice and in Mediation. She is a member and Past Chair of Collaborative Practice Toronto and is also a founding member, a Past President, and current Executive Director of the Ontario Association of Collaborative Professionals (formerly Ontario Collaborative Law Federation). She is the Vice President of Separation Pathways, a non-profit offering affordable out of court solutions for separating families. Judith has been an invited participant and presenter at various provincial, national and international family law programs as well as a guest commentator on current issues in Family Law on radio and television and in print media.

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Daniella is a Collaborative Family Lawyer, Accredited Family Mediator through the OAFM, and owner of Daniella Wald Family Law Resolutions in Toronto. Daniella has practiced in the area of family law since being called to the Bar in 2007, starting out at a boutique family law firm in Toronto and then opening her own settlement- oriented practice in 2015. Daniella is passionate about raising awareness of out - of - court dispute resolution process options for families going through separation.

In addition to her private practice, Daniella is a roster mediator through Mediate393, providing mediation services to clients through the court - based onsite and subsidized offsite mediation programs. Daniella also speaks regularly at various courses and continuing education programs, both as a collaborative lawyer and mediator.

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Sina is a lawyer who enjoys wearing many hats (litigator, mediator, instructor) but all of these hats are anchored in a passion for problem solving in family law. He earned a Canadian LLB law degree from the University of Windsor, and a US JD law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy in Michigan.

His passion for dispute resolution in the family law arena led him to get his Masters of Law in Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) from Osgoode Hall, and more recently, becoming accredited as a mediator with OAFM and FDRIO.

His practice is non- litigious by nature, and provides unbundled services and limited scope retainers to clients across the GTA on any aspect of their family law matter. Alongside his practice, Sina is a court - roster mediator for the Ontario and Superior Courts of Justice.

Whenever he can, he enjoys presenting, teaching and coaching on the topic of Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR), or Family Law and has instructed at Osgoode Hall, Canadian Business College and Humber College.

Actively involved in all things Family Law and ADR, Sina is past - Chair of the Ontario Bar Association's Alternative Dispute Resolution section, and was Chair or the Family Law Section's Speaker's Forum. He is also a Board Member at the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario (FDRIO). He is Chair of the Walsh Family Law Mooting Competition Subcommittee, Canada's only Family Law Mooting competition.

Sina is passionate about access to justice issues, and improving public education and awareness of family dispute resolution processes alongside traditional court processes in family law.

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Yasemin Diamante is President of the Avanti Foundation, a funder of the Family Law Portal. Yasemin obtained her J.D. from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in 2014 with academic placements at the Dalhousie Legal Aid Clinic and Nova Scotia Law Reform Commission for which she received an honors designation. Yasemin was called to the Ontario Bar in 2015. Prior to assuming her role with the Avanti Foundation, Yasemin worked in a community legal clinic. Seeing first-hand the immense demand for legal services motivated her to help improve access to justice for families and led her to assist in the creation of the Family Law Portal.

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Jason is the Project Manager of the Family Law Portal. Working with Canadian Family Mediation industry leaders, this project aims to educate, screen, and triage couples going through separation to find alternatives to court. Jason is an accomplished education technology entrepreneur. He co-founded a startup in 2012 that aimed to help universities in Africa go online. For this, his company was recognized by the U.N. as one of the top edtech companies to help meet the Millenium Development Goals of 2015. He also went to Davos for the World Economic Forum to present to Christine Lagarde and other leaders on the role of education plays in the spirit of excellence for the African continent. He came to Canada after having his startup acquired by Canadian investors. He now enjoys working on new projects that push the boundaries of innovation.