Think back to the mid-1980s - if you’re old enough to remember them. Michael Jackson moonwalked his way into superstardom, the Breakfast Club taught kids everywhere that serving detention could give you a real education, and a fresh-faced articling student named Vance Cooper was eagerly...
Over the past 30 years working on personal injury and insurance claims - as a lawyer, arbitrator, and mediator - I have observed that settlement discussions in advance of mediation occur all too infrequently. Five factors which I believe contribute to the inability of those...
If you enjoy great local music and are passionate about helping at-risk youth in Toronto, be sure to mark Thursday, October 6, 2016 in your calendars – The fifth annual Vancestock, a night of live music benefiting Trails Youth Initiatives, will have the Hard Rock Café Toronto...
There is a common view that when mediation produces a settlement, it has been successful and, conversely, where mediation fails to produce a settlement, it has been a failure. Needless to say, mediators, us included, would prefer not to characterize a mediation which does not...
In order for you to achieve the best possible result for your client at mediation, you need to ensure that two things which are beyond your control are managed to their best effect. These are reserves and authority. In this post I provide tips for setting...
In some judicial venues in Ontario [Toronto, Windsor and Ottawa], the parties must mediate in advance of the pre-trial conference. In all other jurisdictions, mediation is optional. 1. Don’t Mediate as a Matter of Course Direct settlement negotiations should always be thoroughly considered before proceeding to mediation. Mediation...