Louise Otis is an active mediator in commercial and in civil matters. She is a distinguished fellow of the International Academy of Mediators (IAM) which sets the standards and qualifications of professional mediators of commercial disputes. Otis is also Deputy Judge for the Administrative Tribunal of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

During her career as a lawyer, Otis practiced and taught civil, labour and administrative law and specialized in the fields of mediation, arbitration and negotiation.  In 1997, while a Judge at the Quebec Court of Appeal, she developed one of the world’s first judicial mediation systems, and later helped establish mediation programs in Canada and abroad. She has mediated hundreds of cases in commercial and civil law. Otis created and dispensed intensive mediation training courses in different countries including France, Belgium, Russia, Brazil, Mali and Australia. These courses focussed on developing skills in mediation, facilitation, communication, causes and responses to conflict and especially how to break impasses in difficult and complex conflicts.

In December 2006, Otis  was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to a 5-member group of international experts charged with redesigning the UN’s internal justice system, including the creation of a mediation system.

In 2009, Otis was elected  President of the International Conference on Mediation for Justice (ICMJ).

Since January 2010,  Otis has been  is a Guest researcher at the International Studies Center of the University of Montreal (CERIUM).

Otis has lectured on Alternative Dispute Resolution at: The Council of Europe, The Harvard Fellows, Harvard University – Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, The International Academy of Mediators, The American Bar Association, Section of dispute resolution, the Masters’ Forum of Mediators at Pepperdine University, California, The Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, The European Conference of Judges, The Brazilian Judicial Institutions and various national courts and tribunals.

At the international level, she has been involved in the reform of the justice system in different countries namely Haiti, Mali, China and Russia.

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