At the end of our lives there are many decisions we have to make. Sometimes, we need to make those decision well in advance and sometimes, we need other people to make those decisions for us. In this episode, lawyer Mark Handelman discussed his work dealing with issues of consent, capacity, and end-of-life wishes.
Mark Handelman was called to the Ontario Bar in 1978 and holds an MHSc in Bioethics from the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. He was a part time Member of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal from 2008 to 2018 and from 1998 to 2008 a Vice Chair and Senior Lawyer Member of the Consent and Capacity Board, to which he was reappointed in 2018. Mark’s articles on consent and capacity law, mental health law, end of life decision-making and Powers of Attorney have appeared in the popular press as well as peer-reviewed medical and legal journals. While practising law in London, Ontario between 1978 and 2002 he was president of the London Chamber of Commerce, president of the Better Business Bureau and a director of the London Club, among other community activities and wrote about 300 restaurant reviews and food articles for The London Free Press. He now lives in Toronto and Mallorytown and devotes much of his time to presiding at Consent and Capacity Board Hearings as a senior lawyer Member.