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What is mediation? (a year-end rant)
This rant is for those (few remaining) lawyers who discourage their clients from trying mediation with the lame allegation that mediation is too “touchy-feely.” It is hard to believe that, in this day...
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What is Family Law Dispute Resolution?
Dispute resolution in family law has three underlying principles: 1.It is voluntary. 2.It is a process of informed self-determination. 3.It is a safe process: meaning it is physically, legally and...
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Working with Unrepresented Parties in Family Law
The starting point for all discussions about working with unrepresented parties in family law is that they are the most vulnerable people in the system. One’s reasons for not having counsel do not...
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How to Prepare for Negotiation Where One Side is Unrepresented
The advocate’s substantive preparation: Family lawyers need to do a lot of pre-negotiation work necessary to fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of their own client’s case, and to prepare the...
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Why is family court so expensive?
This is a guest post by Thomas Dart, a partner with Barriston Law in Barrie, Ontario. I have been trying my best in my practice to lower costs to clients by becoming efficient. However, the fact is...
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Mediate393: achieving high settlement and satisfaction rates in family matters
The numbers don’t lie: Ontario’s free and subsidized family mediation program is working in Toronto. Statistics from Oct.-Dec. 2013 show that mediate393’s clients had high settlement rates and were...
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How can mediators work with different cultures?
Mediation is fast becoming a culturally diverse field. In earlier days, mediators were mostly homogenous: white, middle-aged legal or mental health professionals. As mediation becomes the default...
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Risks of family lawyers screening their own clients under the Arbitration Act...
(Second in a three-part series on the topic.) Those of us working in family law can count on one thing never changing: we are in a danger zone. The percentage of separations involving some form of...
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Important Court Decision for Mediators
Guest blog by Joel Skapinker. It is important for lawyers and parties starting mediation to understand the interaction between limitation periods and the mediation process. The Ontario Limitations Act...
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Riverdale Mediation Collaborates with Bill Eddy!
Riverdale Mediation and Bill Eddy, Co-Founder and President of the High Conflict Institute, will be working together on two projects over the next few months. On June 2-3, we will be offering “New Ways...
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A Case for Mandatory Mediations in Family Court
Guest blog by Joel Skapinker. Although we do not support mandatory mediation in family law, mediator Joel Skapinker asks some hard questions in this thoughtful blog post. What do you think? It has...
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Independent Legal Advice: Now Available to Mediation Clients through Legal...
It’s now easier for mediation clients in Ontario to access independent legal advice (ILA). Anyone, if they qualify, can have up to 6 hours of free legal advice before, during and after mediation. The...
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FLA Annual Spring Bash and Fundraiser
On May 22, 2014, the Family Lawyers Association of Ontario will be having their annual Spring Bash and Fundraiser, where mediate393 will be a proud sponsor. Riverdale Mediation will also be donating a...
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Marketing & Social Media for Family Mediators
Social media savvy is critical in today’s digital world. For family mediators and other dispute resolution professionals, knowing how to market your services using digital technology is a vital skill,...
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mediate393 Demonstrates the Value of Court-Connected Family Mediation and...
The numbers and testimonials show that free onsite family mediation and information, and subsidized comprehensive family mediation, provide real value to clients and taxpayers. mediate393’s roster of...
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Riverdale Mediation at the AFCC 51st Annual Conference
On May 27th-31st, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts will be holding their annual conference close to home: at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto. This year’s topic is “Navigating the...
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Training Update: Screening for Family Violence, April 2014
On April 7-9 this year, Riverdale offered our 21-hour course on “Screening for Family Violence, Abuse, and Power Imbalances.” It was the first time we have delivered this course over three days, the...
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BIFF, EAR and other effective conflict resolution skills
Bill Eddy (centre left) with roster mediators Christine Kim (far left) and Jared Norton (far right), and mediate393 Executive Director Elizabeth Hyde (centre right). The mediate393 roster members and...
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Workshop on High Conflict and Power Imbalance Screening to follow National...
On July 19-20, the Association of Professional Family Mediators (APFM) is offering a 2-day Advanced Training on “Power Imbalance in Family Mediation” in Seattle, Washington. Riverdale Mediation’s...
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Training Update: Basic Family Negotiation & Mediation, May 2014
We finished off our spring session of accreditation courses last month with “Basic Family Negotiation & Mediation.” For 5 days during the first week of May, more than 20 aspiring mediators joined...
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