John Hollander - Lawyer, Trainer, Author

A lawyer in Ottawa since 1978, John specializes in financial loss and estate litigation. As the founder of the Advocacy Club, he has also taken on training and mentoring roles, working with young civil litigators.
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John's law clients include those who have disputes involving estates (both wills/intestacies and powers of attorney) and financial losses (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, segregated funds and life insurance). 

​The Advocacy Club now has more than 150 active members in the Ottawa area, many of whom are quickly becoming leaders in the legal community. John's techniques are presented in French by the Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario / Association of French Speaking Jurists of Ontario (AJEFO).
 
John also teaches students in trial advocacy at the University of Ottawa's school of common law. He has introduced experiential courses, in which he uses the Advocacy Club methodology to train third-year law students to become junior associates in litigation practices.

Through Irwin Law,John has published eight handbooks for lawyers on the subjects of interview skills, legal writing, discovery techniques, courtroom skills, mediation, case analysis and examination skills.  For details, go to Handbooks on this website.

John has also produced three self-published handbooks for teaching trial advocacy in law school: Introduction to Trial Advocacy, Outlining Examinations and Estate Litigation. For details and to purchase, visit the Store on this website. He is currently working on a fourth handbook, Authenticity: Public Speaking for Professionals.

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Juliet Knapton - Lawyer, Teacher

Juliet Knapton has a passion for teaching and loves to witness the growth in each Advocacy Club member she mentors. A former civil litigator and secondary school teacher, she has taught Trial Advocacy at the University of Ottawa. Until her appointment to the Immigration and Refugee Board as a tribumal member late in 2017, Juliet provided mediation and workplace investigation services. She previously served as Vice Chair of the County of Carleton Law Association's Diversity Committee. 
 
Called to the Bar of Ontario in 2005, Juliet has represented clients at the trial and appellate court levels as well as in front of several administrative tribunals.  While in private litigation practice, she acted on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants. She understands the motivations and limitations of litigation in each context. Her areas of expertise included personal injury, professional liability, insurance, equality and human rights law. For many years, she also coached the University of Ottawa Wilson (Charter) Equality Moot Team and then served as a judge of the competition.
 
Juliet graduated from the University of Ottawa law school after completing her BA(H) at Queens University and spending several years working in Colombia and Pakistan. She has chaired and been actively involved in a variety of community and advocacy groups (including LEAF, CLAIHR and Timeraiser) and was the Chair of the Ontario Bar Associations’ Equality Committee.

Juliet’s legal training has been complemented by a term at the Centre for National Security Studies in Washington, D.C., the legal clinic at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and a clerkship at the Federal Court of Canada. She served for eight years on the executive board of the Emily Murphy House in Ottawa.
 

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