The Medico-Legal Society of Toronto Award 2010 Recipient
Joseph Colangelo
The
Medico-Legal Society of Toronto is pleased to announce that Joseph J. Colangelo
is to be the recipient of the 2010 Medico-Legal Society Award. This award is
the highest expression of esteem which the Society can convey and is intended
to honour those members of the Medical, Legal or Scientific community who have
made a significant contribution to their profession as well as either the
Society or the community at large and whose contributions are consistent with
the values of the Society.
Joe
has over 30 years of experience representing clients and arguing cases before
the courts and tribunals on issues relating to health law. He has represented
patients and health care practitioners of many of the regulated health care
professions. He has seen both the plaintiffs’ and the defendants’ side of legal
debates concerning health law and health policy issues. He is a past president
of the Medico-Legal Society of Toronto. He has chaired several MLST committees
which have produced the Society’s key publication, The Medico-Legal Report, including the 2010 edition. This latest
edition explains the duty of expert witnesses and the background giving rise to
recent amendments relating to the approach to and the content of proper expert
reports and expert testimony. He chaired the MLST Committee which made
submissions to the Honourable Coulter Osborne, QC on civil justice reform. He
is the lead mentor/supervisor of the MLST Advocacy Project. The Project is
supported by doctors and lawyers who provide mentorship to law students of the
Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law Students.
These law students provide assistance to unrepresented persons who request
reviews of decisions of complaints committees of the regulated health colleges
by the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board. It is a unique access to
justice initiative which has drawn praise from members of the judiciary and the
health care and legal professions.
Joe’s service extends beyond the MLST to: the
Canadian Italian Advocates Organization; Opera York; Villa Colombo Homes for
the Aged; and as a member of the Critical Care Ethics Subcommittee for the
Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. Called to the bar in 1978 he
practiced for many years as an associate and
partner with McCarthy and McCarthy and is currently a sole practitioner.
In 2009 he received the Arbor Award from the University of Toronto.
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