Mr. Wheatley is Chairman Emeritus and co-founder of ADR Chambers Inc.

He is a past President of ADR Chambers (UK) Limited, a dispute resolution group based in London, England, which provides services similar to those offered in Canada.
 
Immediately prior to his retirement from the active practice of law in December 1995, Mr. Wheatley was Counsel to Miller Thomson law firm in Toronto where he carried on a practice which included motor vehicle litigation; fire liability; products liability; medical malpractice; wrongful dismissal actions; disability and life insurance claims; marine law; occupiers' liability; policy coverage issues; professional liability and reinsurance. His clients at that time included major Canadian property and casualty insurers as well as English reinsurers.

Prior to his legal career, Mr. Wheatley worked in advertising and public relations with International Harvester Company, a major world-wide manufacturer of farm equipment. He was an Associate Editor of its magazine, “Canadian Farm News”. In the practice of law, he handled agricultural claims for a major Canadian insurer of a national farm co-operative group.

In addition to his extensive defence practice, Mr. Wheatley represented Plaintiffs in personal injury claims on a number of occasions directly, and as Counsel for various law firms throughout Ontario, the United States and the United Kingdom.

He appeared in all levels of the Courts in Ontario including the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada.

Mr. Wheatley is a past Director of Sun Alliance Insurance Company and Sun Alliance and London Assurance Company.

Throughout his career, Mr. Wheatley was involved in Continuing Legal Education for The Law Society of Upper Canada and other professional organizations. He was an instructor in the Bar Admission Course in Civil Procedure for a number of years; he was a past Chairman of the Insurance Subsection of the Canadian Bar Association (Ontario); past Chairman, co-Chairman and panellist of numerous programmes for The Continuing Legal Education Department, The Law Society of Upper Canada, on subjects which included: Damages; Party and Party Costs; Fire and Property Insurance; Family Law; and Structured Settlements. In addition, he was Chairman and lecturer on Insight programmes dealing with Damages and with Fraudulent Insurance Claims.

Mr. Wheatley received his LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1964, and was called to the Ontario Bar, with Honours, in 1966. He received his appointment as Queen's Counsel in 1978 and was one of the first recipients of a Certification as a Specialist in Civil Litigation from The Law Society of Upper Canada. He is a member and past Director of The Advocates' Society and a member of the Ontario Bar Association and Canadian Bar Association.
 


MEDIATION TRAINING AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

During the last ten years of his active practice of law, Mr. Wheatley presided over numerous pre-trials for the former Supreme Court of Ontario, Trial Division, as well as for the Ontario Court (General Division).

Mr. Wheatley was accredited as a Mediator in 1995 by the Centre for Dispute Resolution, Boulder, Colorado, in The Mediation Process and Practice of Conflict Management. He is also accredited in Advanced Mediation by the Harvard Programme sponsored by The Advocates' Society (1996).

Mr. Wheatley has lectured to various institutions and legal organizations with respect to the benefits and techniques of  The Mediation Process, as well as how to be a successful Mediator and participant in mediation. He organized and chaired a panel for The Advocates' Society, Court House Series (Barrie, Ontario) in February 1996 on Alternative Dispute Resolution; lectured to The Insurance Institute of Canada, a training programme, with respect to an overview of The Art of Mediation (1996 and 1997); Insight Conference of New Automobile Insurance Plan (luncheon speaker re: The Use of Private ADR, November 1996); organized and chaired ADR Chambers Lectures on The Benefits of Mediation and Arbitration for the Department of Justice, Canada (September 1997); guest lecturer, Queen's University, Alternative Dispute Resolution (November 1997); panellist, Lexpert Conference re: Medico-Legal Course, specifically, panel with respect to Legal Tripwires in Bill 59" and the use of ADR (December 1997). He has participated as a coach for Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Advanced Mediation Courses.

Mr. Wheatley has conducted thousands of mediations since the inception of ADR Chambers Inc. in 1995.