Verlyn Francis, J.D., LL.M. (ADR)

VERLYN FRANCIS is a an experienced international arbitrator and mediator in Commercial, Civil, Consumer, Estates, Family, and Disability disputes. She is the Principal ADR Consultant at Isiko Dispute Resolution Consultants Inc.

Ms. Francis has used her technological expertise to conduct hearings by videoconference since 2015. In addition to her independent arbitration and mediation work in Canada, she is a roster arbitrator and mediator on the Global and General Commercial panels of CPR Panels of Distinguished Neutrals (CPR), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the National Bar Association – ADR Section (NBA-ADR).

Verlyn also teaches arbitration, mediation, and negotiation up to the master’s level. She is a professor of ADR at Lincoln Alexander School of Law and Humber Institute of  Advanced Learning, Toronto, Canada; visiting professor of Advanced Negotiation for Master of International Business students at La Salle EMCI in Lyon, France; and guest lecturer in the LL.M. Dispute Resolution Program at Osgoode Hall Law School. She also taught Ethics and Professional Responsibility to lawyer candidates for the Ontario Bar. She practised law in Toronto for over 20 years in the areas of civil litigation, family, estates and corporate/commercial law.

She publishes, trains, and presents on Arbitration, Mediation, the Impact of Culture on Conflict, Conflict Resolution, and Process Design,. Verlyn is the author of numerous papers and articles including: Ethics in Arbitration: Bias, Diversity and Inclusion  (2020) 51:2 Cumberland Law Rev.; Teaching Dispute Resolution in a Multicultural Environment; Culture in Clinical Care Conflict Management (presentation at Toronto General Hospital); Designing Emotional Support into Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (2016) 23 Willamette J. of Int’l Law & Disp Resol at 274; and Infusing Dispute Resolution Teaching and Training with Culture and Diversity, (2018), 33 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol.

She holds J.D. and LL.M. (ADR) degrees from Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1997.

Verlyn is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Canada Branch, the ADR Institute of Canada, ADR Institute of Ontario (inducted into the President’s Circle), Society of Ontario Adjudicators and Regulators (SOAR), American Bar Association (ABA), Law Society of Ontario (LSO), National Bar Association (NBA), the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL), Black Female Lawyers Association, Women’s Law Association of Ontario (WLAO), and Toronto Lawyers Association (TLA).