Mercedes Perez
Mercedes has represented clients before a range of administrative tribunals and at all levels of court in Ontario, Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada. She practices in the fields of mental health and capacity law, Charter litigation, civil actions, coroners’ inquests, elder law, privacy matters, and complaints to the regulated health professions colleges. Mercedes represented the appellant in P.S. v. Ontario, a successful constitutional challenge to the Mental Health Act which resulted in the first significant amendments to this legislation in over a decade. She has received numerous amicus curiae appointments from the Ontario Court of Appeal in mental health and capacity appeals.
Mercedes co-instructs the Law and Psychiatry course at Osgoode Hall Law School with Kelley Bryan. As a member of the Mental Health Legal Committee, she has prepared submissions on proposed provincial and federal legislative reform bills. She has been a frequent speaker on capacity, constitutional and administrative law matters at law conferences and continuing legal education programs, including the Osgoode Certificates in Elder Law and Mental Health Law.
Mercedes received her law degree from McGill University and was called to the Ontario Bar in 2003. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto and a Master of Arts from the University of Chicago. She has held appointments as a Director of the Boards of several charitable organizations in Ontario and the United States. Before co-founding Perez Bryan Procope LLP, Mercedes worked for non-governmental organizations in the Dominican Republic and Ecuador, at EcoJustice and a boutique advocacy firm in Toronto, and also practiced as a sole practitioner.
Kelley Bryan
Kelley’s practice encompasses many facets of health and disability law. As well, she is a vigorous advocate for human rights and social justice, representing victims of discrimination, sexual assault survivors, children and elders. Kelley is an experienced litigator who has appeared at all levels of Ontario courts and before numerous administrative tribunals.
Kelley is an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she co-instructs (with Mercedes Perez) a course on Law and Psychiatry. She has presented on various mental capacity law and administrative law topics at Law Society of Ontario conferences, and has provided education seminars to organizations.
Kelley holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of British Columbia, as well as a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Calgary. She served as a judicial law clerk in the British Columbia Supreme Court before articling at a national law firm. Since moving to Ontario in 2005, Kelley has worked at two litigation firms where she nurtured her dedication to social justice lawyering.
Affiliations: Law Society of Ontario; Toronto Lawyers Association; Mental Health Legal Committee; Law and Mental Disorder Association; Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers; Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada.
Alexander Procope
Alex’s practice is concentrated in capacity, guardianship and power of attorney matters. He has frequently been appointed as counsel for allegedly incapable persons in high conflict capacity-related disputes and has a passion for the rights of the vulnerable.
Alex is co-CPD liaison for the Elder Law Section and member-at-large of the OBA Trusts and Estates Section Executives of the Ontario Bar Association. He is also a member of the Mental Health Legal Committee and in that role has prepared submissions respecting Policy and Law Reform initiatives on capacity, guardianship and substitute-decision making. He has presented at various Law Society and Ontario Bar Association Programs and is Co-Director of the OsgoodePD Certificate of Elder Law Program. Alex currently co-teaches Mental Health Law at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law. Alex has also taught Ethical and Legal Frameworks in Aging at Ryerson University’s G. Raymond Chang School and guest lectured on Legal Professional Ethics at the University of Windsor faculty of Law and Elder Law and Patient Rights at the University of Toronto Faculty of Social Work.
Alex graduated with honours from the University of Toronto with a degree in philosophy and history and obtained his law degree from the University of Windsor in 2006. He articled at a full-service Toronto firm and joined a boutique advocacy firm following his call to the bar of Ontario in 2007 where he practiced until co-founding Perez Bryan Procope LLP.
Affiliations: Law Society of Ontario; Toronto Lawyers Association; Canadian Association of Black Lawyers; Mental Health Legal Committee; Law Union of Ontario; Ontario Bar Association; Law and Mental Disorder Association.