The Justice Review Task Force was established on the initiative of the Law Society of BC, in March 2002. The Task Force consists of the following senior representatives:

BC Supreme Court – Chief Justice Donald Brenner
BC Provincial Court – Chief Judge Hugh Stansfield
Law Society of BC – William M Everett, QC (Chair)
Canadian Bar Association – Robert Brun, QC
Ministry of Attorney General – Deputy Attorney General Allan P Seckel, QC
Ministry of Attorney General – Jerry McHale, QC

The objective of the Task Force is to identify a wide range of reform ideas and initiatives that may help us make the justice system more responsive, accessible and cost-effective. To this end, the Task Force provides a forum for its participants to exchange information, engage in mutual consultation respecting proposed administrative, procedural or program changes, and coordinate initiatives where appropriate.

The Honourable Chief Justice Donald Brenner
Chief Justice Donald Brenner was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 1992 and Chief Justice of the Court in 2000. Prior to his judicial appointment in 1992 he was in private practice with Brenner & Company in Vancouver. The firm specialized in the field of insurance defence in the areas of aviation, products liability and professional indemnity.

The Honourable Chief Judge Hugh Stansfield
Chief Judge Hugh Stansfield was appointed Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of British Columbia on July 1, 2005. He was appointed to the Provincial Court in 1993 in Vancouver, then moved to the Okanagan District in 1994. He was Administrative Judge for the Okanagan 1996 to 1998, and Associate Chief Judge 1998 to 2002. Throughout, he has presided in all three areas of Provincial Court jurisdiction, and been active in judicial education, including teaching mediation skills. Prior to his appointment to the Bench, he worked briefly as a criminal prosecutor, and then in private practice, initially in a small firm primarily litigating in Provincial Court, and later in a major Vancouver law firm where he practiced in civil, family and criminal litigation.

William M Everett, QC
William M Everett, QC was President of the Law Society of BC for 2003-2004. A graduate of the University of Manitoba and the University of BC law school, Mr. Everett was called to the BC Bar in 1972 and appointed Queen’s Council in 1991. He is a partner in the Vancouver firm Lawson Lundell where his focus is complex commercial litigation. First elected a Law Society Bencher in 1998, Mr. Everett has served on the Law Society’s Ethics, Access to Justice, Unauthorized Practice, Practice Standards and Discipline Committees. He has served the legal profession as an elected representative of the Canadian Bar Association (BC Branch), as an adjunct professor at the UBC Faculty of Law and as a member of the advisory committee to the Dean of Law. Mr. Everett has also served on the Boards of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre, St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation and as Chairman of the Board of Crofton House School.

Robert C Brun, QC
Robert C Brun was called to the Bar in 1978 having graduated from the UBC Faculty of Law in 1977. In 2003-2004 he served as President of the BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association and was a member of Provincial Council from 1997 to 2005. In 2004 he was designated by the CBABC to serve for that year as a member of Judicial Council. He served as a Bencher of the Law Society in 2005. Mr. Brun has been a partner in the firm of Harris & Brun since 1984, involved primarily in insurance litigation. Prior to joining Harris & Brun he spent five years with the Legal Services Department of the Workers' Compensation Board. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2004.

Allan P Seckel, QC
Mr. Seckel joined the public service as the Deputy Attorney General in April, 2003 after many years in private practice with a major law firm in Vancouver, BC. His practice focussed primarily on commercial and general litigation, including class actions. He is the author or co-author of two legal texts and a contributing author to the CLE Civil Trial Handbook. Mr. Seckel earned his law degree from the University of Victoria in 1983, where on graduation he was awarded the Law Society Gold Medal. He then served as law clerk to the former Chief Justice of British Columbia, the Honourable Nathan T. Nemetz. Graduate studies followed at Cambridge University, which he attended as a Commonwealth Scholar and where he earned his Master of Law degree in 1986.

M Jerry McHale, QC
M Jerry McHale, QC is the Assistant Deputy Minister, Justice Services Branch in the British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General. Mr. McHale served six years as Director of the Dispute Resolution Office in the Ministry. For over a decade, he practiced as a barrister and solicitor, and mediator in family and commercial law. He was a founding board member of the Mediation Development Association of British Columbia, the University of Victoria Institute for Dispute Resolution and the Canadian Bar Association Alternate Dispute Resolution (Victoria) Section.