Art Vertlieb, K.C., has practised as a trial lawyer in Vancouver for more than fifty years. Called to the British Columbia bar in 1973, he has appeared in courtrooms across Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada, acting in both civil and criminal matters.

His career has placed him at the centre of some of British Columbia's most consequential public proceedings. He served as commission counsel to the Braidwood Inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekański, and to the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, which examined the investigative failures surrounding the women lost from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

In 2013, he served as President of the Law Society of British Columbia.

A founding member and past president of the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, Vertlieb was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2001. He was founding chair of the Lawyers Assistance Program of British Columbia and, from 2015 to 2025, general counsel to the Canadian Football League Players' Association. His honours include the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Georges A. Goyer, K.C. Memorial Award, and Osgoode Hall Law School's Gold Key Award.

Away from the courtroom, he has served on the boards of the Vancouver Academy of Music and the Canadian Memorial Community Centre, and as chair of the Arts Club Theatre Society. He continues to practise as a trial lawyer in Vancouver, where he lives with his family.