Articles

In this article, Ian R. Mackenzie offers insight into McClintock v. Karam, 2015 ONSC 1024, relating to med-arb and bias.

In this article, Ian Mackenzie addresses the ethical concerns in being both the mediator and the adjudicator and some of the best practices in limiting these risks.

In this series of articles, I will explore the interesting cultural shift occurring within the legal profession in Ontario between the adversarial norms of litigation, and cooperative processes such as alternative dispute resolution. In this second article, I will discuss how adversarial legal culture forms a critical component of a lawyer’s professional identity, and what philosophies are embedded in our legal culture as a result.

As the world around us has changed, so too has the way family dispute resolution services are delivered.

In this series of articles, I will explore the interesting cultural shift occurring within the legal profession in Ontario between the adversarial norms of litigation, and cooperative processes such as alternative dispute resolution. In this first article, I will explore some of the origins of the adversarial attitudes that have traditionally permeated the legal culture within Ontario.

“Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser — in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.” - Abraham Lincoln

I am always hungry. If I am not eating then it is likely that I am thinking about food – unless I am mediating. It has become a problem. Allow me to explain.

When parties and their lawyers are overly optimistic at mediation, it can lead to poor decision making and unnecessary risk taking. Learning to be mildly pessimistic can be beneficial.

At the beginning of every mediation, I tell the participants about the Five Key Reasons they should consider settling their legal dispute instead of taking it to Court. In my previous posts, I discussed four of the five of those reasons: risk, time, cost and privacy. Finally (and fittingly), the last Key Reason to settle is finality.