Background
Daphne Jarvis is a partner in our Toronto Office. She graduated from the University of Ottawa Law School, Magna Cum Laude in 1984 and was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1986.
Prior to that, she obtained two undergraduate degrees from McMaster University, the first in Biology in 1979, and the second in Honours Philosophy in 1981.
Areas of Practice
· Daphne is a civil litigator specializing in health law, particularly the representation of hospitals and nurses in medical malpractice claims, inquests and disciplinary proceedings, and consent and capacity issues.
· She also provides day-to-day advice to healthcare providers on a wide range of policies and issues, including health information and documentation, child and adolescent health, end of life, and consent to treatment issues.
Rankings and Recognitions
· Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in Canada 2012 (Personal Injury Litigation)
· Martindale-Hubbell BV Peer Review Rating
Professional Experience
· Defends hospitals and its employees in medical malpractice lawsuits on retainer with the Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC).
· Has been retained directly by hospitals and other healthcare facilities as counsel on numerous coroners' inquests.
· Provides ongoing advice, legal support and policy review to various hospitals, CCAC's, children's mental health centres and community health centres.
· Is frequently retained as counsel to individual health providers involved in complaints or disciplinary hearings before their professional bodies, and in reviews of those decisions by the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board.
· Has acted as counsel to individual hospitals and/or staff in hearings before the Consent and Capacity Board and appeals taken from those decisions.
· Appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of Fleming v. Starson, as counsel to the intervenor The Schizophrenia Society of Canada. (January 2003).
Professional and Community Activities
· Third Vice-President, Medico-Legal Society of Toronto (2011-2012), Treasurer (2010-2011), Member of Council since 2007
· Community Member, Ethics Committee, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre (2000-2004)
· Member of the Health Law section of the Canadian Bar Association of Ontario, the Advocates' Society and the Medico-Legal Society
Lectureships and Speaking Engagements
· Instructor, Osgoode Certificate in Mental Health Law Program, Module 4 - Special Issues on the Treatment of Children and Adolescents (2009-2011)
· Co-chair, OHA/ BLG/ HIROC Conferences on Current Issues in Risk Management (2005-2008)
· Panellist at Critical Care Canada Forum Workshop 'The Grey Matter: Critical Care, Ethics and the Law' (2008)
· Presenter on Legal and Ethical Issues in Mental Health to Master of Science and Bioethics Program at the Joint Centre of Bioethics, University of Toronto (2009, 2011)
· Panellist at the Canadian Institute's Patient Safety Summit on 'Managing Disclosure of Harm: Entrenching Transparency and Establishing Accountabilities Within Your Organization' (2007)
· Chair, Canadian Institute's 8th & 9th Annual Conferences on Reducing the Risk of Hospital Liability (2006, 2005)
· Co-chair, Canadian Institute's Conference on the Personal Health Information Protection Act. (2005)
· Submission to the Standing Committee on General Government on Bill 159 - the Personal Health Information Privacy Act (2000)
· Presentations to staff at various hospitals on a broad range of topics; for example: Challenges Faces in Decision-making and Consent in the Critical Care Unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Documentation-A Legal Perspective at Women's College Hospital, Consent and Capacity at Surrey Place Centre.
· Presentations at a number of Ontario Hospital Association conferences; for example: The Essentials of Health Law, Consent to Treatment, Health Information Management, Patients' Bill of Rights, Patient Safety, Disclosure of Adverse Events, Consent and Capacity Board Hearings, Documentation Practices, Caring for the Elderly-Discharge Planning.
Articles/Publications
· Co-author with Dr. Pier Bryden and Dr. Cathleen Steinegger (of the Hospital for Sick Children), "The Ontario experience of involuntary treatment of pediatric patients with eating disorders", International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 33 (2010) 138-143.