Canada

Europe, European Law, Evaluative Mediation, Experts, International Law, International Mediation, Investor-state mediation

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On 29 January 2021, the European Union and Canada adopted four decisions providing for specific rules regarding the Investment Court System (“ICS”) agreed in the 2016 EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (“CETA”). One of them includes the Rules for Mediation. See: general facts about CETA. The CETA was signed on 30 October 2016, and…

Commercial Mediation, mediation process, Public Policy, Settlement Agreements, Uncategorized

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Does the currently predominant model of commercial mediation – a single session of 3 or 6 hours – support good decision-making by litigants? Some doubt is cast by recent Canadian scholarship dealing with the psychological costs of litigation. In their 2017 paper, Anticipating and Managing the Psychological Costs of Civil Litigation, authors Michaela Keet, Heather…

ADR, Brexit, Costs in Mediation, Court Procedure and Litigation, Europe, Future of mediation, Lawyers, Mandatory mediation, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), Mediation Schemes (In Courts, etc.), Online Mediation, Promoting Mediation, Reform

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While the Brexit saga continues to make headlines around the world, the international mediation community should not forget to keep an eye on recent major developments in the field of ADR. The Civil Justice Council’s ADR working group has released its much anticipated final report on the use of ADR within the civil justice system…

Appointment of Mediators, Availability of Mediators, Class action, Commercial Mediation, Costs in Mediation, Court Procedure and Litigation, Economics, Mandatory mediation, Mediation Practice, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), Mediation Schemes (In Courts, etc.), Mediation Users/Clients

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While The Kluwer Mediation Blog is aimed at an international audience and often deals with issues of transcendent import to those interested in the mediation process (like Bill Marsh’s recent inspiring post on Leadership) I can’t help but comment on recent Ontario decision that will be of interest to the mediation community here, and perhaps…

Developing the Field, Future of mediation, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.)

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /2 Comments

On Thursday, August 30, 2018 the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal did the unthinkable. Its Judgement in Tsleil-Waututh Nation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2018 FCA 153 (CanLII) quashed approval of the $9.3-billion (CAN) Trans Mountain oil pipeline. The Canadian government announced last spring that it would purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan Ltd….

Developing the Field, Mediation Practice

(Weiler ADR Inc.)/ /1 Comment

It’s August and I’m cooking up some Stone Soup. What I’m actually doing is finalizing the syllabus, lesson plans, lecture notes, readings, guest speaker list and slide decks.  The materials are for my Mediation Theory and Practice seminar at the University of Ottawa Law School starting in September. (Thank goodness for the last minute, otherwise…

Commercial Mediation, Mediation Practice

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  The recently released decision in L-Jalco Holdings Inc. v. Lawrynowicz & Associates, 2018 ONSC 4002 (CanLII) will be of great interest to mediators, lawyers and clients alike. The case offers a rare glimpse inside the “sausage factory” that is commercial mediation and highlights mediator persistence and creativity in reaching a settlement of a complex…

Costs in Mediation, Mediation Lawyering, Mediation Schemes (In Courts, etc.), Regulation, Uncategorized

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The recent cost decision of Justice Graeme Mew in Canfield v. Brockville Ontario Speedway, 2018 ONSC 3288 (CanLII) provides an instructive review of the principles the Court will consider when weighing the cost consequences to an unsuccessful party of unreasonably refusing to participate in a mediation. The case involved whether an automobile race track was…

Commercial Mediation, Developing the Field, Future of mediation, Mediation Practice

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John Sturrock’s May 1st  thought-provoking blog post on mediator “fairness” styled itself a “provocation” and invited comment and response. Here’s mine. John, thank you for your thought-provoking blog post. My perspective is that of a Canadian commercial mediator with nearly 30 years experience and about 4,000 cases mediated, virtually all involving represented individual claimants and represented…

ADR, Developing the Field, Domestic Courts, Growth of the Field (Challenges, New Sectors, etc.), Legislation, Mediation Reforms (Legislation, etc.), Mediation Schemes (In Courts, etc.), National Mediation Laws, Scotland

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A few months ago I painted a not-terribly-flattering picture of Scottish justice as experienced by small claimants – (Oiling the Wheels of the Justice System). Seen through the eyes of a mediator (and ex-lawyer) the language, practices and architecture seem calculated to confuse those most in need of assistance and clarity like unrepresented parties and…