Articles 2023

This article highlights some issues discussed at the June 13, 2019 panel titled “ADR Clauses and Employment Contracts: How to Avoid Costly Litigation”, hosted by the OBA ADR section in Toronto. 

This article discusses the concept of defence-side third party funding and how it can benefit respondence in ADR proceedings.

This article considers whether arbitration clauses in employment agreements might be found to violate the Employment Standards Act.

Mediation is mandatory only in Toronto, Windsor and Ottawa. It is time for it to be mandatory everywhere in Ontario

Disputes between consumers and businesses are commonplace in Canada. New changes to Ontario consumer protection laws will formalize consumer access to free mediation services in order to resolve disputes with businesses.

In this article, mediator Paul M. Iacono, Q.C. provides his views for counsel on how best to select a mediator, prepare a mediation brief, prepare clients prior to mediation and advocate at mediation. He then summarizes techniques that mediators can use before and during mediations to increase chances of settlement.

This article contains a series of tips on how parties should approach mediation, based upon Stuart Rudner's attendance at hundreds of mediation hearings as counsel for the employee, counsel for the employer and as a mediator.

Mediator Mitchell Rose describes his “no one gets hurt” approach to mediator settlement recommendations. He explains how his approach preserves party autonomy and bargaining power, while maximizing the chances of settlement.

This article proposes a new dispute resolution "Hybrid Process" designed to support nation-to-nation building in Canada. In the past, the authors (a First Nations leader and former Grand Council Chief and two Canadian mediators) have used conventional mediation processes with First Nation People and it has not worked because mediation is not an Indigenous cultural practice. However, the Hybrid Process combines two culturally unique practices – Indigenous peacemaking and mediation.