Teaching Team and Guest Speakers

Hilary Linton, LL.M. (ADR), Acc.FM, lawyer, arbitrator, accredited family mediator and recipient of the first James G. Macleod Professorship in Family Law at the University of Western Ontario Law School, is an experienced family mediator and teacher. She established Riverdale Mediation in 2001 after 14 years as a litigator. She mediates and arbitrates family law disputes including parenting plans, child and spousal support, property division, mobility cases, and marriage contracts, as well as a wide range of non-family law cases. Ms. Linton has taught mediation and negotiation to at Osgoode Hall Law School and UWO Faculty of Law, including teaching Family Law Dispute Resolution in January 2009.

Dr. Barbara Jo Fidler, Ph.D., C.Psych., Acc.FM, a registered psychologist and accredited mediator, is a founding member of Family Solutions. She provides mediation, arbitration, parenting coordination, consultation, expert court testimony and custody/access assessment critiques, as well as marital, individual and family therapy, including reunification therapy. Dr. Fidler provides training and supervision for parenting plan assessments (custody/access), parenting coordination, mediation, and parent-child contact problems, including alienation. Her expertise in the development of parenting coordination services resulted in her appointment to the AFCC Task Force developing guidelines and standards of practice. Dr. Fidler has published and present often in the areas of custody/access assessments, high conflict families, child alienation, and parenting coordination. She is co-author of two books, published by Thomson Carswell: Child Custody Assessments: A Resource Guide for Legal and Mental Health Professionals (2008) and Challenging Issues in Child Custody Disputes: A Guide For Legal and Mental Health Professionals (2008).

Tom Bastedo, Q.C. Ph.D., Cert.F. Arb., a certified specialist in family law and certified family arbitrator, has taught at the University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall Law School and Atkinson College, on a full time and part-time basis, and lectured extensively on the subjects of mediation, mediation/arbitration and arbitration in Ontario family law both nationally and internationally. He carries on an active family law practice and was the first Chair of the Family Law Specialty Certification Committee for the Province of Ontario. In 2004 he received the Kroll Linquist Avey Award For Excellence in Family Law given by the Ontario Bar Association. He has written numerous articles in the field of family law and in the legal and practical aspects of mediation and arbitration in this province.

Dr. Barbara Benoliel, Ph.D. is a mediator and President of Preferred Solutions, a dispute resolution company. She holds degrees in psychology, business and criminal justice, and combines practice with research and expanding knowledge in the field. She is a course leader in ADR at York University in the Atkinson ADR Certificate Program, and is on faculty at the Schulich School of Business and at Walden University in Minneapolis Minnesota.She is a specialist in Restorative Practices, and applications in civil and criminal procedures. She has consulted for businesses, governments, institutions and non-profit organizations. Her current research areas are in the use of Restorative Process in family and domestic disputes and in cases of Human Rights violations.

Heather Swartz, M.S.W., C. Med., Acc.FM, Cert. F. Med., is a Partner with Agree Incorporated in Dundas, Ontario. She specializes in providing civil, workplace and comprehensive family mediation. Heather is a Mediation Supervisor at the Peel Family Mediation Services, Ontario Court of Justice (Family), Brampton. She also provides customized conflict management and interest-based negotiation training, conflict coaching, facilitation and workplace assessment and investigation services. Heather was a school trustee for the Town of Dundas for nine years, is a Roster Mediator for the Ontario Mandatory Mediation Program in Toronto and is a Child Protection Roster Mediator. She is the past President of the ADR Institute of Ontario.

Claudette Reimer is passionate about her work as a family relations mediator. She has completed over 1000 court onsite and offsite mediations and has helped families lower conflict levels through mediated discussions. Some of Claudette’s mediations occur with separated parents on their court day (onsite) but she also helps parents develop parenting plans in offsite mediation.Credentials/Experience: Bilingual, Board of Directors – Secretary, Former Manager of the Centre, Accredited by Ontario Association for Family Mediation (OAFM), Social Work background, Developed and continues to coordinate the Centre’s internship program, Involved in peer mediation and family mediation training, Past Director at OAFM, Conflict and parenting coaching.

Elizabeth Ann Hyde. Following 4 years as an educator in the public school system in Toronto, Elizabeth spent seven years as a family law practitioner. Her practice dealt with all aspects of family law including marriage contracts, separation, divorce, custody and access. Elizabeth then spent ten years as senior management in a large national law firm as the Director of Professional Development. In this role Elizabeth was responsible for the design and delivery of the firm’s training programmes for all levels of professional’s in addition to the recruitment and performance management of students and associates. She holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta and an LL.B. from the University of Western Ontario and is currently enrolled in the LL.M (ADR) programme at Osgoode Hall Law School. Elizabeth is actively involved in a number of community organizations both within and outside the legal community.

Adam Black is an associate at Bastedo Stewart Smith where he practices all aspects of family law with particular emphasis on the financial implications of divorce and separation and alternative dispute resolution. Prior to joining Bastedo Stewart Smith, Adam articled with the Ministry of the Attorney General at the Family Responsibility Office. Adam has appeared in Courts throughout the Greater Toronto Area, including the Ontario Court of Justice, Superior Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Adam has authored and contributed to several papers which have been presented and discussed in various Ontario Bar Association programs. Notably, Adam has prepared a collection of case comments on the issue of judicial intervention in alternative dispute resolution. This work has been included as course materials in various academic and legal education forums. Adam has appeared as a guest speaker at Riverdale Mediation. Adam is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian and Ontario Bar Associations, and the Toronto Lawyers’ Association. Adam is actively involved in the Ontario Bar Association’s Young Lawyers’ Division where he contributes to continuing legal education programs.Adam holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University and a Bachelor of Laws from Queen’s University. Adam was called to the Ontario Bar in 2007.

Ken Nathens is the founding and managing partner of Nathens, Siegel, a Toronto law firm dedicated exclusively to the practice of family law. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1994. Ken holds both a Civil Law degree and a Common Law degree from McGill University where he graduated in 1992 with Upper Class Honours. Ken has experience in all areas of family law, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and court litigation. He has been certified to represent clients in collaborative negotiation since 2002.He has extensive litigation experience and has been involved in trials relating to such issues as child custody, the mobility rights of parents, imputing income under the Child Support Guidelines, and the rights of adoptive parents under child welfare legislation. He has recently appeared before the Ontario Court of Appeal arguing on behalf of clients in relation to property and financial disclosure issues. Ken has written extensively on family law issues, including articles published in Divorce Magazine dealing with such issues as the Potential Perils of Collaborative Family Law and vacations in the family law context. He has offered frequent lectures on family law issues for members and staff of the Ontario Federation of Labour. In 2010, Ken was certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a specialist in the practice of family law. He was also appointed a Dispute Resolution Officer of the Ontario Superior Court (Family Division) in Newmarket where he assists litigants to narrow or resolve issues in the early stages of court proceedings.

Cheryl Goldhart has practiced exclusively in the area of family law since she was called to the bar in 1987. She is certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Family Law. She specializes in negotiating complex agreements in all areas of family law and litigates in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Justice, and the Court of Appeal. She is also an accomplished mediator and arbitrator. She is the past Chair of the Ontario Bar Association, Family Law Executive, and past member of the Canadian Bar Association (Federal), Family Law Executive. She has worked as a Dispute Resolution Officer at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for the past 12 years. Cheryl is a past member of the Panel of the Children’s Lawyer of Ontario, representing children in custody, access and child protection cases. She is a member of the Bench and Bar Committee of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Toronto), and the Family Law Committee (Toronto). She has been a family law instructor for the Bar Admission Course of the Law Society of Upper Canada and is a frequent lecturer on various topics in family law. Over her years of practice, Cheryl has written numerous articles for the Bar Admission Course, professional journals, periodicals and magazines. Cheryl has been certified as a “Best Lawyer in Canada” for family law 2008, 2009, and 2010.