Robert Nelson is a retired Canadian litigator and ADR specialist who was a senior partner at Gowlings. He was the executive director of the ADR Institute of Canada and authored Nelson on ADR Nelson has been engaged nationally and internationally in consultancy, expert arbitration, and mediation practice. Career Nelson attended Queen's University for his undergraduate degree and, in 1969, graduated from Queen's University Faculty of Law with his law degree. He was a 1968-69 recipient of the prestigious Queen's Tricolour award While he was a partner with Gowlings, Nelson worked with Ray Hnatyshyn and Gordon F. Henderson Nelson authored Nelson on ADR (published in 2003), which is described as the most comprehensive ADR book in the market today. In 1999 Robert Nelson was in charge of a project in which Gowlings was awarded a $2.8 million contract to expand and promote the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the Russian Federation. The project was financed as part of a loan from the World Bank, which focuses on major legal reform initiatives in Russia. Nelson was also in charge of a groundbreaking project introducing commercial ADR to Albania. The Project (also financed by the world bank) was administered through the Albanian Ministry of Justice and executed by Gowlings Consulting Inc, led by Nelson. On June 5th, 2003, a fully functional Commercial ADR Centre was opened in Tirana. Nelson acted for the interveners Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and Evangelical Fellowship of Canada in the landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision Rodriguez v British Columbia (AG). In a 5-4 decision, the court upheld the criminal code prohibiting assisted suicide. Nelson was on the winning side. He was the executive director of the ADR Institute of Canada, and from 2005-2006, he was the President of the County of Carleton Law Association. Volunteer Work He is a founding board member of Help Lesotho, which delivers mental health support and skill training to people in rural Lesotho. Nelson is involved with the Ottawa mission, and the Lawyers feed the Hungry program. Nelson is also very active in his church Saint Bartholomew's. He was on the board of directors of the Shorefast Foundation, which manages the Fogo Island Inn. Videos CSPAN Nelson arguing the assisted suicide case (starts at 3:33 hours) References Lawyers in Ontario Living people 20th-century Canadian lawyers 21st-century Canadian lawyers Queen's University at Kingston alumni Year of birth missing (living people)