M Jerry McHale, QC

M Jerry McHale, QC

From 2001 till 2011 I was Assistant Deputy Minister with the Justice Services Branch of the BC Ministry of Attorney General, responsible for civil, family and criminal law policy and legislation, mediation and alternative dispute resolution, legal aid, and family law programs. In addition to holding other government positions, including Director of the Dispute Resolution Office, I have worked in the private sector as a litigator and mediator. In 2011 I was appointed to the Faculty of Law as the Lam Chair in Law and Public Policy. From 2017 to June 2019 I served as Director of the UVic Access to Justice Centre for Excellence ("ACE"). I continue to serve in an advisory capacity to ACE.

​I received the Canadian Bar Association (National) John Tait Award for Excellence in Public Sector Law in 2000, a Queen's Council designation in 2001, the Canadian Bar Association (B.C.) Georges A. Goyer QC Memorial Award for Distinguished Service in 2009, the Victoria Bar Association's Contribution to the Law Award in 2009 and the Susanna Jani Award for Excellence in Mediation in 2014.

I have spoken at approximately 300 conferences, professional gatherings and educational programs since 1986 on topics related to my areas of interest: mediation and dispute resolution, access to justice and justice reform, child welfare and family law, procedural law, policy development and the legislative process.I am on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice and I am actively engaged as a member of the Steering Committees of both the national Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters and Access to Justice BC. I am the Director of the Faculty of Law's . The Centre pursues applied research and practical scholarship on access to justice issues.