Irwin W. Fefergrad, B.A., B.C.L., LL.B
Irwin Fefergrad has the distinction of being the first lawyer in the history of the Law Society of Upper Canada to achieve a double specialty, in civil litigation and in health law, and the first lawyer to achieve a specialty in the practice of health law.
Mr. Fefergrad is currently the Registrar, Chief Executive Officer and in-house legal counsel for the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, the regulatory body for Ontario’s nearly 8,000 dentists. In this position since 2000, he oversees the professional, statutory, legal, policy, insurance and administrative activities of the College.
Under Mr. Fefergrad’s leadership, the College has taken a proactive role on a number of fronts. From privacy legislation to health profession incorporations, from labour mobility to ethics, the College’s activities have set the standard for regulators across the country.
Mr. Fefergrad is also active as an educator, author and lecturer.
In May 2001, he was named Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Ontario, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry. In August 2001, he accepted an appointment as Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Dentistry. In September 2003, Mr. Fefergrad was appointed to the Board of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada. In addition, he was one of the founding directors of the Canadian Dental Regulatory Authorities Federation.
In early 2003, he accepted an invitation from Dalhousie University to be a contributing author for the book, “Dental Law in Canada,” which was published in 2004.
Mr. Fefergrad is much in demand provincially and nationally as a guest lecturer in the area of health law and associated issues, such as:
- Requirements of disclosure and consequences of non-disclosure;
- Prosecuting a sexual abuse hearing;
- Developing an investigation protocol;
- Preparing witnesses and expert witnesses;
- Writing reasons for decision;
- Understanding the rules of evidence;
- Gathering evidence and the Charter;
- Dealing with frivolous and vexatious complaints;
- Latest judicial trends in informed consent;
- Benefits of alternate dispute resolution;
- Future of self-regulation.
Over many years, he has accepted invitations from organizations, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and other regulators, universities and administrative tribunals in Canada and the United States. He has also joined with many judges, such as Justices Cronk, Goudge, Laskin, Bassel, and Farley, to present educational seminars.
He continues with active involvement in the legal profession. Since 1973, Mr. Fefergrad has been an active member of the Ontario Bar Association and the Canadian Bar Association. He is also a member of the Medico-Legal Society of Toronto.
Before joining the College, Mr. Fefergrad was senior partner with the law firm of Fefergrad, Dizgun in Toronto for over two decades. Called to the Ontario Bar in 1973, he started his legal practice with the firm of Shibley Righton McCutcheon. He continues to appear, from time to time, on health law related matters at tribunals and the courts.
Over the years, Mr. Fefergrad has also made a serious commitment to community work. He sat on the Board of Directors of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for almost a decade and as a director of Roy Thompson Hall for six years. He has served as legal counsel to the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto, and done pro bono legal work for the Advocacy Resource Centre for the Handicapped. From 1995–1997, he was president of the Muki Baum Association for the Rehabilitation of the Multi-Handicapped.