She/Her
Jessica Connell is an experienced decision-maker skilled in conducting neutral investigations, mediations, and hearings. Jessica has been a lawyer for 24 years, practising in the areas of human rights, employment, labour, and administrative law. Most of Jessica’s career has been in neutral settings. For the last five years, Jessica has practised exclusively as a neutral dispute resolution practitioner, conducting workplace and institutional investigations and mediations, and providing policy advice.
Prior to opening her dispute resolution practice in 2021, Jessica was an adjudicator with the Human Rights Tribunal, first as a member and then as a vice-chair. Jessica conducted numerous preliminary and final hearings, mediations, mediation/adjudications, and case conferences. Jessica issued 124 decisions published on CanLII and multiple unpublished Case Assessment Directions during her two years at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Jessica’s tribunal work also includes serving for eight years as legal counsel to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal. Jessica acted as counsel in judicial review matters before the courts and is counsel of record on 35 published decisions, including six at B.C. Court of Appeal and one at the Supreme Court of Canada. Jessica also provided trusted procedural and substantive legal and policy advisor to the chair, adjudicators, registrar, and staff.