JusticeNet Patron Council

The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, P.C., C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.  
26th Governor General of Canada

The Honourable Peter deCarteret Cory, C.C., C.D., Q.C.  
Former Canadian Supreme Court Justice and distinguished international jurist

The Honourable Irwin Cotler, P.C., O.C., MP  
Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Canada

Prof. William F. Flanagan  
Dean of the Faculty of Law, Queen's University, President of the Council of Canadian Law Deans

The Honourable Frank Iacobucci, C.C., Q.C., LL.D.  
Former Chief Justice of the Federal Court and Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, currently Counsel at Torys law firm

Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.  
27th Governor General of Canada

The Honourable Patrick LeSage, CM, O.Ont, Q.C.  
Former Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court, currently Counsel at Gowlings law firm

The Right Honourable Paul Martin, P.C.  
The 21st Prime Minister of Canada

The Honourable R. Roy McMurtry, O.C., O.Ont, Q.C.  
Former Attorney General and Chief Justice of Ontario, current Chancellor of York University, and Counsel at Gowlings law firm

W. A. Derry Millar  
Former Treasurer (President) of the Law Society of Upper Canada, currently Partner at WeirFoulds law firm

Prof. Mayo Moran  
Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto

Prof. Lorne Sossin  
Legal scholar and Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

JusticeNet Advisory Board

Frank Addario
Director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association

R. Lee Akazaki
President of the Ontario Bar Association (OBA)

Andrew C. Alleyne
President of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL)

Firoozeh Rose Bahrami
President of the Iranian Canadian Lawyers Association

Rishi Bandhu
President of the South Asian Bar Association (SABA)

Christa Big Canoe
President of the Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto

Randy Bundus
President of the ADR Institute of Canada

The Honourable N. Douglas Coo, Q.C.
Former Regional Senior Judge of the Superior Court of Ontario

Mary Damianakis
President of Family Mediation Canada

Sharon Davis
President of the Women's Law Association of Ontario

Julia Shin Doi
President of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL)

Judith L. Huddart
President of the Ontario Collaborative Law Federation

Michael Johnston
Chair of the County & District Law Presidents' Association (CDLPA)

Claude Lacroix
President of the Association of French Speaking Jurists of Ontario (AJEFO)

Dr. Barbara Landau
President of Cooperative Solutions

Jeffrey S. Leon
President of Pro Bono Law Ontario

Sandra Lozano
President of the Hispanic Ontario Lawyers Association (HOLA)

Eleni Maniatis
President of the Hellenic Canadian Lawyers Association

Samuel S. Marr
President, Toronto Lawyers Association

David McKillop
Vice President, Policy and Research Legal Aid Ontario

Barbara Merriam
Director General, Programs Branch, Department of Justice

Simon Park
President of the Korean Canadian Lawyers Association

Victoria Starr
President of the Family Lawyers Association

John Tzanis
President of the Paralegal Society of Ontario

Judith Wahl
Executive Director of the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly

Prof. Feredrick H. Zemans
Senior Scholar & Professor Emeritus Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

Committees

Current committees are the Expansion Committee and the Quality Assurance Committee. For membership details, please click here.

JusticeNet Board of Directors

President

Fariba Rawhani

Fariba Rawhani has more than 20 years of leadership experience, both managing and partnering with technology and business organizations to create best in class processes and reduce operating costs, while building superior employee and client satisfaction. Regarded as a visionary in her field, she has held a number of senior positions at large Canadian and international companies. As the Chief Operating Officer of North American Trust, she led the turn around of the much troubled Trust into a success story. Later she assumed the role of CIO of Mortgages at CIBC, and then CIO and Senior VP of Technology for CIBC Retail Organization. Her team was instrumental in positioning CIBC as a global leader in banking technology. She later joined EDS corporation, an international organization with 140,000 employees across the globe, as Global Vice President.

Fariba is a speaker on subjects such as technology, business transformation and global learning. She has created and supported a number of mentoring programs throughout her career. She is an active mentor to many underprivileged children and youth in Ontario. 

First Vice President

Patricia DeGuire, LL.M., FCIP 

Patricia E. DeGuire  is currently a Member of a Federal Government tribunal since May 2008.  Previously,  she was a Vice-Chair at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and the Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal from May 1999 to May 2007 and May 2008 respectively. From June 2004 to December 2006 she served as member of the Board of Directors, Legal Aid Ontario and was on several of its committees, including the Executive and Government Relations.  She was a full-time adjudicator for many years at the Ontario Parole Board. Patricia began her legal career as counsel at the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Financial Services. She was a duty counsel for the former Ontario Legal Aid Plan.

She is an executive member of the OBA's Feminist Legal Analysis Section, and a co-editor of its newsletter VOICES. Patricia is a senior ADR Mediator/Negotiator. She has presented in the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunal's conferences and assists in training and presents at the Society of Ontario Adjudicators and Regulators (SOAR)/ Conference of Ontario Boards and Agencies. For several years she was a frequent lecturer at the Organization of Commonwealth Caribbean Bars Association/International Law Forum. She is a co-founder, the first Treasurer (a post she held for eight years) and Director of Professional Excellence of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers, and a co-founder of the Black Law Students' Association of Canada, and a founder of the Hon. Julius Alexander Isaac Scholarship at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor. She is an active member in the LSUC mentorship programme; is the mentor and coach for numerous youths and adults in the legal and other professions, and founder of At-Risk Youths Education Forum. Patricia holds a LL.M in Constitutional Law (Constitution Reform in the Caribbean Union), a Fellow of Certified Insurance Professionals of Canada (FCIP). She is the co-editor of the first Canadian Insurance Dictionary for the Insurance Institute of Canada. Patricia is known for her commitment to public service, legal education and social justice. She is the 2006 recipient of the Law Society of Upper Canada Lincoln Alexander Award. This Award recognizes an Ontario lawyer, who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to public and its well being through community service. In February 2007 Patricia received Legal Aid Ontario's GEM Award for Outstanding Public Service for providing access to justice  for low-income individuals and communities.  In 2008 BLSAC honoured her by naming its Diversity Moot Cup the Patricia E. DeGuire Diversity Moot Cup. 

Vice President

Dr. Bhausaheb Ubale M.A. Ph.D eco. O.Ont

Dr. Ubale is an Economist and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Project Planning Center, University of Bradford (U.K.). His continuing mission in life has been to bring politicians, academics and grass roots workers together to influence public policy to eradicate poverty. During his career, he has been a scholar, academician, author, public speaker, communicator, organizer, administrator, management consultant, political advisor, holder of public office, community worker and operator at the grass-roots level.

Dr. Ubale is the President of the  International Centre for Eradication of Poverty. He was Ontario's first Race Relations Commissioner, and has been a Commissioner on both the Ontario and Canadian Human Rights Commissions. His reports and recommendations have led the Government of Ontario to take revolutionary steps in creating the legislative and administrative framework to create better racial harmony in Ontario and in Canada. While holding public positions at the provincial, national and international levels, Dr. Ubale developed an integrated approach to human rights, race relations and multiculturalism.
Dr. Ubale has been named to the Order of Ontario, and has received Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee Medal.

Treasurer

Fariborz Davoudi, LL.B., LL.M.

Fariborz Davoudi studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School, receiving his LL.B. in 1997, and his LL.M. in 2005. He has practiced as a criminal lawyer since being called to the Ontario Bar in 1999. Mr. Davoudi is a trial lawyer, having handled a number of high profile cases involving serious criminal charges. He has intimate experience with clients of low and medium income who have struggled through Canada's justice system. Mr. Davoudi is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Osgoode.

Secretary

Nataly Kashani

Nataly Kashani has several years of experience working with development and advocacy agencies such as, Lawyers for Human Rights, and Peace Boat. She served as Director of Services and United Nations Representative for Worldcit Education and Development Agency. Nataly has worked closely with several boards to develop and implement policies, programs and strategic directions. As well, she has advised on fundraising and capital building initiatives for both small and large charitable organizations. She has a keen interest in creating accessibility to justice in Canada.

Nataly studied law at City University, London, U.K., and Alternative Dispute Resolution at Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University. She now works in the private sector.

Dr. Liang Hsuan Chen, BA, MSEd., MBA, PhD, FCGA

Dr. Liang Chen is the Associate Dean (Academic) and a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Liang, an internationally recognized educator is the recipient of many awards including a CGA Ontario mentorship and a CGA Canada fellowship for her efforts with students and immigrants whom she has helped transition into accounting careers. Her 2007 doctoral thesis “Choosing Canadian Graduate Schools from Afar: East-Asian International Students’ Perspectives.” won her the international Alice L. Beeman Research Award in Communications and Marketing for Educational Advancement from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) based in Washington DC. She co-authored and adapted a Cost Management textbook published by Wiley in 2009, and a Financial Accounting textbook published by Pearson in 2012. Her publications related to international students’ choice of Canadian graduate schools and marketing of higher education can be seen in Higher Education, the Canadian Journal of Higher Education, the International Journal of Educational Advancement, and the Journal of Marketing for Higher Education. Liang has served as a board member of the Certified General Accountants of Ontario.

Liang was the candidate of record for the Ontario PC Party for the provincial election in 2012. She has also worked in the private sector in Accounting and Marketing functions. Liang received her BA in English Language and Literature from Soochow University in Taiwan, a Master of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania, and obtained an MBA and later a PhD in Higher Education, both from the University of Toronto. 

Executive Director

Heidi Mottahedin, C.Med,. Acc F.M., C.S.F.T., IMI

Heidi Mottahedin is a Chartered Mediator. She received her mediation training from York University and Harvard Law School. She studied International Business Management and Sociology and has received extensive training in the Solution Focused field from leading North Americans universities. She has applied her management skills in various capacities. Heidi is certified by the International Mediation Institute and is a lifetime member of FMC and a member of the ADR Institute of Canada. She has been active in various not-for-profit and charitable organizations, having served on different boards and committees. Heidi is the recipient of the University of Toronto's 2011 Jason Kelly Leadership Award for Excellence in Solution-Focused Counselling.