Effective Family Dispute Resolution.

Our Team

When choosing a professional to guide you through this challenging time,  competence and experience count.

Hilary Linton is the founder of Riverdale Mediation. A former family and civil litigator, she has 20+ years of experience working as a mediator, arbitrator and parenting coordinator. A leading teacher of family dispute resolution, she is a tenacious professional known for her skill and dedication.

The Honourable Clifford Nelson, retired from his role as a family court judge in the Superior Court of Justice, brings many decades of experience in settlement approaches to his role as a family mediator and arbitrator.

Avagene Skervin is a family law lawyer who offers mediation and mediation-arbitration services. She brings a no-nonsense, respectful and practical approach to her work. Avagene offers French language services in some cases.

Borzou Tabrizi, a family lawyer, mediator, arbitrator and parenting coordinator, has years of experience working with high-conflict disputes. Clients and counsel alike appreciate Borzou’s calm and thoughtful approach. Borzou offers services in English and Farsi.

Lindsay Kertland, parenting coordinator, has extensive experience in family dispute resolution. She is in demand for her focused, effective and empathetic work with high conflict families. A lawyer by training, Lindsay is fluently bilingual in French and English.

Family Mediation:
A safe place to have difficult conversations

Family mediation is a confidential negotiation process that lets people reach agreements about the things that are important to them. Research shows it leads to durable agreements, is more empowering and less expensive than most other options. Mediation:

• Gives you control over the process
• Is more affordable than most other options
• Can be done without lawyers present (though legal advice is important)
• Allows each party to be heard
• Offers a way for children to have their voices heard
• Can be done online, saving time and costs
• Enables both parties to obtain all necessary disclosure
• Helps reduce conflict

Achieves acceptable closure.

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Parenting Coordination:
Effective resolution of post-parenting plan disagreements

Parenting coordinators (PCs) help parents resolve disagreements about their parenting plan in a quick, effective and fair way that minimizes conflict.

Parents sign a two year contract that gives their PC authority to mediate or arbitrate disputes as the need arises. The PC will also interview the child in most cases and speak with other important people in the child’s life.

PCs focus on the needs of each child, and work closely with both parents to help them develop improved communication and conflict resolution skills.

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Arbitration and Mediation-Arbitration:
Private adjudication

Sometimes separating couples have tried other ways of resolving their dispute and they just want a decision made for them. But going to court can be very expensive and time-consuming, with long wait times.

Arbitration and mediation-arbitration allow parties to choose their own adjudicator . Where both parties trust and respect their arbitrator, and have a say in how the process is designed, they are more likely to accept the outcome and move on with their lives.

Parties seeking arbitration must sign a Family Arbitration Agreement with independent legal advice before starting the process.

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