Good Lawyers Cross Bridges…Good Mediators Build Them by Michael Sinclair and David Pihl In the context of increasing complaints about the cost of legal services online mediation is one tool that is often under-utilized. Many people continue to see video-conference mediation as inferior or a waste of time. This is a mistake. It represents a…
Mediation is not new. In fact, its roots are believe to go back thousands of years to ancient Mesopotamia. Yet there is still some resistance to it in certain spheres of the legal profession, and amongst the parties to a dispute. Some of this resistance comes from common beliefs that it is not appropriate in…
Spring is here and it’s that time of year when home owners want to change things around the house and consider getting some renovations carried out. A contractor is located, some plans are drawn up and things get started; unfortunately, sometimes what starts out as a positive project turns into a potential nightmare for both…
The practice of law today is very different. It’s different for us lawyers, and also for our clients. Over the years we have seen big changes in how judicial settlement proceeds. Once upon a time, the framework that exists today to encourage settlement did not exist. In today’s world, clients expect their lawyers to be…
For a number of years we all heard of Arbitration as a way to obtain a decision in a dispute between two or more parties. Some agreements mandate that disputes are arbitrated rather than litigated as a way to save costs and to obtain a decision in a much shorter time frame than through the…
British Columbia is establishing Canada’s first online dispute resolution body. The innovative Civil Resolution Tribunal will address small claims and strata property disputes. The Tribunal is expected to launch later this year. The Civil Resolution Tribunal Act was passed in 2012 and amendments to the Act passed third reading on April 21, 2015. The Tribunal…
When I think back to the time I was just starting to practice as a trial lawyer, about 42 years ago and list the tools available back then to settle files before proceeding to trials, the list is pretty short. Actually there was no list. Back then the options for settlement of litigious matters heading…
Recently at the end of the day I looked out my office window that overlooks the transit roundabout on Queensway…now in the process of being changed/upgraded….. to my right, towards the Memorial Arena…..I am reminded that is where the new park aide is to be built….across from there… at any time now, the new IHA…
Many things can happen along the way to a trial. Often a settlement is one of them. As a trial lawyer I recognize that having your day in court comes at a very high price. Lawyers’ fees are only part of that price. There is delay – civil cases take years to get to trial.…
This is an exciting development in the world of ADR – Alternate Dispute Resolution. Dispute resolution practitioners, myself included, applaud this kind of “thinking outside the box” that gives people more options for resolving disputes. If I have one concern with this new process it is that, with few exceptions, the parties cannot be represented by […]
