This week we are teaching our 30-hour course in Family Law for Family Mediators, Parenting Coordinators and Arbitrators. It is a comprehensive overview and is good training for anyone who wants to know more about family law. We start the course discussing what comes first; changes in law or changes in society? For example, there is a social and political …
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Category Archives: Family Mediation
What is “Custody”? And Why Do Mediators Need to Know?
Can a Judge Order Parties to Go to Family Mediation?
This week we are teaching family law to a class of mediation students. It is only 30 hours, not nearly enough, but we try to use those hours to teach mediators the things they really need to know. One topic we touch on: Can people in family court be ordered to mediate? In Ontario, there is no such thing as …
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Legal Duties of Family Mediators – With a Stiff Penalty for Non-Compliance
This week we are teaching a 30-hour course in family law for Ontario mediators. Although one only scratches the surface of family law in such a short time, we manage to cover a lot of ground. Mediation in Ontario is an unregulated field. Although there are outstanding professional organizations for mediators to join—four in Ontario alone—membership in such an organization …
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My family mediator wants to have a pre-mediation meeting with me. Why?
Fear is the greatest emotion felt by clients engaged in family mediation processes. Pre-mediation meetings help clients ease some of these intense feelings. A great family mediator seeks to create a safe, fair, confidential, balanced, and neutral environment. Family mediation is a voluntary process of self determination that tries to minimize harm. Pre-mediation meetings are a key step in reducing risks the …
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Telephone Mediation is Family Mediation Friendly
The choice of the space in which mediation takes place is vital to the process of conflict resolution. Factors such as climate, the culture of mediation practice, and procedures that govern the practice of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) (such as rules of confidentiality) have usually confined ADR proceedings to enclosed spaces in colder climes
Exploring Your Options in Dispute Resolution: Mediation
Mediation is a voluntary process of negotiation that is led by a neutral expert in conflict resolution skills. Family mediators are often family lawyers or mental health professionals themselves. Mediators generally do not provide solutions, and unless lawyers attend, mediation does not result in a signed , binding agreement. Rather, parties attend mediation to freely discuss the problems they …
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Explore Your Options in Dispute Resolution
With so many options, how does one choose the best dispute resolution process? This blog series will attempt to identify and define as many of the options as possible. This week’s focus will be on the Do-it-Yourself option. The “SRL” (self-represented litigant) movement has grown in the past years, largely due to the growing sense that the legal system, and …
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Mediate 393 on “Voces Latinas” Radio in Toronto
On January 29, 2016, I went ‘live on-air’ on Voces Latinas, a Spanish radio talk show in Toronto to talk about Mediate393 and what it is like being a roster mediator. I began the show by providing information about Mediate393 and the services offered by our team of roster mediators. The mediators at Mediate393 are comprised of mental health professionals …
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