Federal Court Judge slams RCMP grievance process: timely resolution of...
The dispute resolution system for RCMP officers has come under sharp criticism in a recent decision of the Federal Court. An RCMP officer filed a judicial review application of an internal decision...
View ArticleFear and guilt as mediation tools
Thanks to Professor Jen Reynolds of the University of Oregon and her post at the ADR Prof blog, I was alerted to an interesting study on the use of fear and guilt in mediation. The study appears in the...
View ArticleRising frustration with self-represented
There appears to be a rising frustration with (some have even said contempt of) self-represented litigants by judges. The Ontario case of R. v. Duncan is the most recent example that has received some...
View ArticleFederal Court advisory group proposes plain language guides for litigants
I have a column at slaw.ca this week on literacy and access to justice. A Federal Court subcommittee tasked with examining the Federal Court Rules issued a report last Fall that touches on access to...
View ArticleCoast to coast dispute resolution: slow and speedy justice
In the past week I attended conferences in Vancouver and Halifax, where I learned a lot about dispute resolution in courts and in sports. Apart from being a great opportunity to experience the ocean on...
View ArticleFailure to mediate costs City of Hamilton $20K
The failure of the City of Hamilton to participate in mediation proved costly, resulting in an increase of $20,000 in costs awarded. Subsection 258.6(1) of the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8 sets...
View ArticleConsultants have (some) rights too
A recent Ontario decision addressed the rights of a consultant whose contract with a non-profit organization was abruptly terminated during a conference call. The court ordered payment for the days of...
View ArticleQuestions a mediator should ask you
I recently came across a list of 10 questions that mediators should ask before and during mediations (10 Things I Wish The Mediator Asked Me . . . . None Of Which Are “What Is Your Bottom Line?” by...
View ArticleThe Limits of Consensus: getting to “no”
Ontario Chief Justice Winkler recently gave a speechon mediation – and the power of “no”. He proposes a different mediation style which does not always seek agreement. Consensus is not always possible...
View ArticleFables for Dispute Resolution
Fables for Dispute Resolution We all remember some of Aesop’s fables from our childhood and some of them are part of our cultural DNA (the tortoise and the hare, for example). A blogger on dispute...
View ArticleMentorship: live longer and prosper
A large part of learning is learning from the experiences of others. Mentorship is a good way to share life experiences, knowledge and advice to those coming behind us in our professions. It is also a...
View ArticleTED Talks for Dispute Resolution Practitioners
The New Yorker has an article($) this month about the phenomenal success of TED Talks both live and on the Internet. Dipping into the TED talks posted online, I have identified a few that may be of...
View ArticleWhen can a decision maker ignore submissions?
Some advocates raise many arguments in their submissions and adjudicators are left with the dilemma of deciding whether they have to address each one. The courts have been clear – an adjudicator only...
View ArticleHearing Preparation Checklist
I love checklists! There is something reassuring about reducing preparation for a hearing to a list of steps to follow. Of course, hearing preparation is not like a recipe that you follow closely, but...
View ArticleVested Rights and Privileges and the Repeal of Legislation
When legislatures change administrative procedures, what happens to those people already in the queue? A recent Federal Court decision has addressed this issue in the context of changes to the...
View ArticleThe Seven Deadly Sins of Mediation: the International Perspective
As we face difficult mediations as mediators, it is worthwhile pausing to consider the challenges of mediation of disputes that are more intractable than anything we might encounter in a regular...
View ArticleGuides for Preparing Parties for Mediation
One of the keys to a successful mediation is having participants who are prepared and who have given some thought to what they want to achieve in mediation. The role of counsel and representatives in...
View ArticleDay parole revoked by parole officers “precipitously”: offender awarded 20K...
An inmate’s day parole was revoked by two federal parole officers based on uncorroborated hearsay information. While on day parole the inmate was working and earning approximately 20 dollars an hour....
View ArticleFederal Court Judge slams RCMP grievance process: timely resolution of...
The dispute resolution system for RCMP officers has come under sharp criticism in a recent decision of the Federal Court. An RCMP officer filed a judicial review application of an internal decision...
View ArticleFear and guilt as mediation tools
Thanks to Professor Jen Reynolds of the University of Oregon and her post at the ADR Prof blog, I was alerted to an interesting study on the use of fear and guilt in mediation. The study appears in the...
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