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DAVID SANDERS
Born and educated in Toronto, Mr. Sanders has been a London resident since 2002 and has become an adopted Londoner, heavily and happily involved in his community. He is a former litigator and researcher. Since his arrival here he has both volunteered and worked in the nonprofit community, and continued his private work on a book about the Canadian Army during the Second World War.
A craftsman with the English language, Mr. Sanders is also functional in French. He is a Canadian citizen, a British subject, and has an American daughter, so he finds borders more irritating than most people do.
Professional Memberships
ADR Training and Accreditation
Legal Training and Accreditation
Additional Education
A copy of Mr. Sanders' current CV is available for download in PDF format.
Current Community Involvement
- London Employment Help Centre - Board of Directors (2003-present); Secretary to the Board of Directors (2006-present); Chair, Strategic Planning Subcommittee (2008-present)
- London Homeless Coalition - Staff Member (2005-2007), Independent Member (2007-present)
- Riverforks Community Organization - Member, Board of Directors (2007-present)
- Canadian Parents for French - Board of Directors, London Chapter (2007-present)
- Neighbourhood Watch London - Member, Board of Directors (2003-2005)
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Skills Sets and The Human Element
Skills Sets
- handling the pressure … well
- experienced and skilled at prioritization
- dynamic and precise in planning, organization and time and project management
- equally comfortable with reactive response or proactive planning
- effective at crafting and executing projects, especially ones with conflicting timings and requirements
Independent and a Team Player
- not an "either / or" kind of professional
- moves naturally to set and achieve goals, both independently and in teams
- enjoys and skilled at team work, collaborative processes and coalition building
- skilled at, and happy with, independent work and the exercise of judgment and initiative
- toughness, experience, maturity, and willingness to make a tough call never interferes with openness to advice nor with willingness to seek guidance and direction when the situation manifestly requires it
Getting the Message Across: Communication Skills
- able to identify and condense issues, track key points, write or explain them succinctly
- excellent drafting and writing skills - a specialist in two difficult-to-reconcile fields: producing a discussion paper or framework for community or team adaptation, or the crafting of a finished product based on that process or my own independent work
- skilled and effective verbal communicator in any context: interpersonal, small group or large groups; educational lecture, presentation, interactive or interpersonal
- years of public education, court work, law practice and the administrative side of social services work have created outstanding communication abilities while retaining the personal touch and a human, comfortable and approachable style
- an effective and insightful listener: a man who often hears what is meant as well as what is said
Computer Skills
- comfortable and effective in computerized and online environments, including and especially:
- communications: email, text and instant messaging services
- online and database-centred research
- data management
- he has considerable experience with multiple applications:
- specialist software for law practices (Amicus Attorney, PC Law, Automated Civil Litigation, etc.)
- publishing and web software (Microsoft Front Page and Website OS 4.1, including the sitebuilder)
- the Microsoft Office suite
Administrative Skills
- while with the London Homeless Coalition (2005-2007):
- handled all secretarial and administrative duties, including but not limited to: scheduling of meetings; managing correspondence, email distribution lists and web communications; general membership and steering committee agendas, minutes and related work; organizational record-keeping (including a rationalization and reorganization of 2000-2005 hardcopy and e-records); technical and administrative support to Steering Committee; preparation for Chair’s appearances before Council committees
- served as what can be called 'admin support plus', performing duties (such as research, conference co-planning, attendance and contribution, policy research, position paper writing, ministerial submissions, membership expansion, etc.) not normally handled by administrative staff
- while researching historical text (2002-2005): did years’ worth of research, reviewed, organized and collated same
- while in sole practice (1997-2002): handled almost all secretarial and administrative work in addition to work as a lawyer and the business duties of the practice itself, effectively managing vast amounts of data
- the Human Element or 'one doesn’t hire just a skill set'
- professionally and personally respectful and amicable: able to work with individuals and organizations with strong thoughts and philosophies arising out of intense personal and/or professional experiences in a manner that produces trust in abilities from coworkers, coalition members, supervisors, colleagues and stakeholders
- extensive experience in dealing with multiple constituencies, both internal and external
- trained in, experienced in and happy with the balancing and reconciliation of differing viewpoints
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References & Testimonials
References are available on request.
Testimonials:
- "David is one of the most gifted people that I know. He has the mind of a fighter and the heart of a poet. Few lawyers could match his painstaking preparation before a trial or his oratory skills and devastating wit during one." (Leonard R. Lyn - Solicitor and former business partner of Mr. Sanders)
- “Mr. Sanders has great skill in bringing matters from a smattering of thoughts to end product. He can engage people, 'take the temperature' and assess where participants are with the concept, and integrate the thoughts of diverse people.” (Executive, Canadian government agency)
- In even the most contentious circumstances, "[David] has proven effective at pulling thoughts and goals of out participants" and identify salient information that provides a solution. (Executive, Canadian government agency)
- “Thank you, counsel… We rarely see materials this good here. These are perfect.” (A judge from the bench in a tricky adoption case.)
- In one real estate suit , a judge could not improve on Mr. Sanders’ summary of the law and just inserted the relevant paragraphs verbatim into his judgment.
And one shouldn’t forget the funnier side of things
This ad, done by Gordon Marshall for Sanders, Lyn & Ragonetti won an award, has garnered notice and has been making its way around blogs, personal sites and humour sites ever since. I've lost count of the number of times I have seen it online. It should come as no surprise that when the International Classified Media Association showed this one at its 2006 Conference, the "ladies in the audience particularly liked it".
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