Bernard Morrow is the principal of Morrow Mediation, a Toronto area based full-service alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
firm. Bernard has been successfully providing fair and balanced dispute resolution services at a sensible price since 1994.
In addition to conducting his ADR practice, Bernard was appointed the Complaints Resolution Commissioner for the Law
Society of Ontario for a two-year term commencing April 1, 2014. He was re-appointed for a second two-year term
commencing April 1, 2016. The Commissioner performs an ombuds role, independently reviewing complaints against
lawyers and paralegals that have been closed by the Law Society to ensure they were handled appropriately and the results
were reasonable. Having completed his time as Commissioner, Bernard now offers coaching and training to lawyers and
paralegals who have an interest in avoiding professional conduct complaints.
Practising as a litigator in the early 1990s, Bernard was initially drawn to the ADR field by a desire to achieve more efficient
client-centred resolutions to disputes. This led him to take considerable training in mediation and ADR consulting both in
Canada and the U.S., making him a more complete advocate and awakening a passion for the field of conflict resolution.
His mediation experience has included providing services to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and the
Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario (IPC), as well as conducting a variety of mediations as a private practitioner
and as a member of the Ontario Mandatory Mediation Program Roster - Toronto/Ottawa. Bernard has conducted more than
1500 mediations. His areas of focus as a mediator include commercial, employment (including wrongful dismissals), human
rights, partnership, construction, estate and insurance (including personal injury and disability) disputes.
Bernard’s arbitration skills have been built on a strong foundation. Between February 2002 and July 2013, he served as an
adjudicator with the IPC, adjudicating more than 300 appeals over that time. In his role at the IPC, he adjudicated complex
access to information appeals and issued binding written decisions.
Bernard has also served as an umpire in appraisal hearings, conducted pursuant to section 128 of the Insurance Act, involving
disputes between insureds and their insurers over property damage claims arising under Statutory Condition #11 of Ontario
property insurance policies.
Prior to joining the IPC, Bernard worked for two years as Legal Counsel and Senior Facilitator with Ontario’s Dispute
Resolution Office where he developed and delivered ADR-focused training programs, facilitated complex workplace
restorations, and designed and convened large-scale consulting projects involving public and private sector stakeholders.
He has designed and delivered several of his own training programs, including an advanced negotiation course for the
University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies and a certificate program in ADR for the Seneca College of Applied Arts
and Technology.
Bernard obtained his B.A. in political science in 1982 and his LL.B. in 1985, both from Western University. In 1988, he was
awarded his LL.M. by the London School of Economics and Political Science in London, England, in the areas of labour,
employment law and human rights. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1988. In May 2013, Bernard was awarded the
Chartered Mediator (C. Med) designation by the ADR Institute of Canada, Canada’s only professional designation for
practising mediators.
Bernard has completed extensive skill and theory-based ADR training with such organizations as Canadian Dispute Resolution
Corporation (Toronto, Canada), CDR Associates (Boulder, U.S.), Transformative Justice Australia (Sydney, Australia) and the
Society of Ontario Adjudicators and Regulators (Toronto, Canada).
Bernard served as Chair of the Ontario Bar Association’s (OBA) ADR Section Executive in 2008-2009 and returned to the
Executive as a Member-at-Large for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 terms. He is also a member of the ADR Institute of Ontario
(ADRIO) and the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman (FCO).