Articles

On May 8, 2012 it was my privilege to Co-Chair an OBA program jointly sponsored by the ADR Section and the Construction Law Section. My Co-Chair from the Construction Law Section was Karen Groulx and our speakers included Stephen Morrison and David Bristow.

A major focus this year has been to deal with the OBA Taskforce on Judicial Mediation. A number of our Executives attended the Policy Day in December 2011 and participated in that valuable process.

Family law cases involve complexities for legal practitioners that are unlike other areas of law. 

On February 27, the ADR Section presented a panel discussion on the topic of conflict coaching. The panel was moderated by Robin Dodokin a lawyer, mediator and coach with Garfinkle Biderman LLP . The panelists were Cinnie Noble , Jeff Morris and Rhonda L. Smith .

The Ontario Bar Association ADR Section recently hosted a CLE program titled, “Mediation Boot Camp – The Nuts and Bolts of a Successful Mediation” which proceeded on June 4, 2012 in Toronto.

It has been an exciting time for the ADR world with the task force on Judicial Mediation working on their position papers as well as the court connected family mediation project coming in to its own.

Welcome to my first newsletter as Editor. To start with, on behalf of the Executive, I would like to thank Shari Novick and Peter Chauvin for their hard work on past newsletters.

This is my first ADR Newsletter article as the Chair of the ADR Section, although I did write a number of these articles the first time that I was Chair of this section back in the “olden days”.

The “Promise of Mediation”, the title of Bush and Folger’s often quoted book, captures the essence of mediation in the family law context. For those of us coming from a litigation oriented practice, the process of mediation continues to both amaze and inspire.

People contemplating separation have frequently endured long periods of time, sometimes years, in unhappy, acrimonious and even violent relationships. Most of these people have experienced strong negative emotions towards their spouse for years.