Vern is a practicing lawyer with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Ottawa and is a professor with the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law. He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Manchester, a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta, a Master of Laws from Harvard University, and a Doctorate of Comparative Law from Cambridge University. He is a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society (1977), the Law Society of Alberta (1981) and the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario) (1983), and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1989.

Vern engages in a broad spectrum of practice including matters related to International Tax, Wealth Management, Tax Litigation and Personal Tax Planning.

A bencher at the Law Society of Upper Canada since 1991, Vern is the first law professor to be elected Treasurer, a term that he served from 2001 to 2003.

As a national expert in the area of tax, he has been the Executive Director of the Tax Research Council of the University of Ottawa since 1991.

A fellow of the Certified General Accountants Association of Ontario, Vern was President from 1995 to 1996, and was Governor from 1996 to 1997

He has been the Executive Director of the Federation's National Committee on Accreditation since 1983.

Read Vern's bio on his firm's website
Read Vern's bio on the University of Ottawa's website