High-profile lawyer Julian Falconer was named Tuesday to chair a new panel examining safety at Toronto schools, a move that comes in response to the fatal shooting of student Jordan Manners nearly two weeks earlier.

The Toronto District School Board announced the creation of the safety advisory panel at a news conference on Tuesday. The panel will examine supervision, student discipline and school security.

Falconer has often worked in human rights and public interest litigation, including at the Ipperwash inquiry as a lawyer for the Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto and in Maher Arar's successful pursuit of compensation and a formal apology from the Canadian government.

Falconer vowed to make the review transparent and called school violence a systemic problem that needs to be addressed. The panel is expected to report to the school board about its findings around mid-July.

Since 15-year-old Jordan Manners was shot and killed on May 23, several teachers from his high school, C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, have gone public with criticism that the administration repeatedly ignored threatening and violent behaviour.

C.W. Jefferys was scheduled to have security cameras installed when the shooting occurred. Immediately after the death, the school temporarily brought in extra staff, such as hall monitors.

Manners's mother, Laureen Small, has actively campaigned for the underlying causes of violence among youth to be examined, such as with the re-appointment of an Ontario youth commissioner.

Two 17-year-olds, who police said were likely friends of Manners, face first-degree murder charges in the case.