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…
Entering into a commercial lease is rarely a temporary decision. Further, being locked into a lease that doesn’t work for your business can result in a struggle that could lead to unintended costly outcomes. Due to the long-term nature of the agreement, listed below are some key terms that landlords and potential tenants should consider…
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…
There can be a perception that lawyers help paper a deal that has been already agreed to or that lawyers help you write letters and start lawsuits after a dispute has arisen. Unfortunately this perception is overly simplistic and, especially for small businesses and entrepreneurs, can end up costing significant legal fees that could have…
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…
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 […]
