Senior Counsel

Email:  mfelsky@discoverycounsel.ca

Phone:  416-453-0034

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Summary

In Martin's 30-year legal career he has been sought out as a technology transformation advisor to law firms, governments, courts and corporations around the world.  Martin was involved in drafting the Ontario eDiscovery Guidelines, the Sedona Canada Principles, and is currently active on the Ontario Digital Evidence and eDiscovery Working Group.  He also serves on the Uniform Law Conference of Canada Electronic Document Rules Working Group, which is developing nationally consistent rules of practice.  He was appointed to the Canadian General Standards Board Committee on the admissibility of digital evidence in 2014.

 

Martin is also the author of several Canadian Judicial Council publications including the Blueprint for the Security of Court Information, 6th edition.  The Blueprint has been implemented in every Canadian superior court.  He provides legal, policy and technical advice to courts across Canada on the issues of information governance including cybersecurity and privacy, and he is considered an expert on judicial independence.

 

As co-founder and former CEO of a leading litigation support service provider, Martin has ten years of hands-on business experience that many of his clients appreciate.  He has acted as Chief Privacy Officer for two companies, and advises major public and private sector clients across Canada on compliance with information laws, and managing digital evidence for legal proceedings.

 

Martin has been recognized in Who's Who Legal (Litigation) as a global thought leader since 2015.  He was Chair of the Board of the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII), which provides free access to legal decisions.

 

Martin has traveled extensively, speaking by invitation to groups of lawyers and judges in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, and throughout the United States and Canada.

 

Education

  • J.D., Law, University of Toronto, 1983
  • Ph.D., English, University of Toronto, 1980
  • M.A., English, York University, 1978
  • B.A., English, Dalhousie University, 1974
  • Called to the Bar of Ontario, 1985

Professional Involvement

  • Canadian Judicial Council, Senior Adviser, Information Management - 2019-present
  • Judges Technology Advisory Committee, Canadian Judicial Council - Member, 1987-2013
  • Sedona Conference Canada Working Group 7 - Charter Member; Steering Committee Member, March 2019-present
  • Task Force on The Discovery Process in Ontario - Member
  • Nova Scotia Supreme Court Civil Procedure Rules Disclosure Committee - Adviser, 2009-2012
  • Canadian Law Information Council - Director, Law and Technology, 1985-1988
  • Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) - Director, 2010-2017, Chair of the Board to 2016
  • Digital Evidence and eDiscovery Working Group
  • Uniform Law Conference of Canada Electronic Document Rules Working Group
  • Canadian General Standards Board Committee (on the admissibility of digital evidence) - Member, 2014-2015

Community Involvement

  • United Way Oakville - Director (2012-2017)