Verlyn Francis is passionate about helping parties to resolve disputes without resorting to the courts. She is an experienced arbitrator, mediator, and dispute prevention manager in Personal Injury, Corporate/Commercial, Estates, Family, Civil, Disability, Employment and Cross-Cultural disputes. A lawyers for over 20 years, she has been a mediator since 1999 and an arbitrator since 2009, she now devotes her practice to alternative dispute resolution, and training.
In addition to her in-person practice, Ms. Francis has been using her technological expertise to conduct hearings by video conference since 2015. She is a roster arbitrator and mediator on the Global and General Commercial panels of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), the National Bar Association (NBA) ADR Panels and the New York State Bar Association mediation panel. She is a general panel arbitrator at Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and an adjudicator at the Toronto Licensing Tribunal, and Ontario Police Arbitration and Adjudication Commission (OPAAC). She also served as an adjudicator on the Social Security Tribunal of Canada (SST).
A guiding voice on corporate governance and ethics for lawyers, arbitrators, and mediators, Verlyn has also taught arbitration, mediation, and negotiation up to the master’s level. She is a Professor of ADR in Humber Polytechnic’s Post-graduate ADR program, and previously taught ADR at Centennial College. She was the 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 Law Society of Ontario.
Her ground-breaking scholarship on the link between culture and conflict along with ethical issues in ADR places at her at forefront of the profession. As the Culture and Diversity Specialist at Isiko Dispute Resolution Consultants, she trains and presents on conflict prevention and management.
Verlyn is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Canada Branch, the ADR Institute of Canada, the ADR Institute of Ontario, New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), the Society of Ontario Adjudicators and Regulators (SOAR), Law Society of Ontario, the American Bar Association (ABA), the National Bar Association (NBA), Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL), the Black Female Lawyers Association, Women’s Law Association of Ontario, and Toronto Lawyers Association.
Verlyn is committed to giving back to the community and has volunteered with numerous organizations. She has served as a member of the Board of Trustees, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and the Clinical Quality Committee, Governance, and the Research Committee. She was a Member of the Board and the Director of Professional Development & Mentorship at CABL. She has served on the Board of the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) and was Chair of the Governance Committee. She was a member of the Board of the Toronto Board of Trade, and the Toronto Community Foundation. She served on the Board of the Osgoode Law School Alumni Association and was founding Chair of the Gold Key Awards Committee. She was also the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Harry Jerome Scholarship Fund.
