If you want to be a full-time member of a federal tribunal, one of the conditions of employment for many of those tribunals is that you must live within commuting distance of the National Capital Region (NCR), otherwise known as Ottawa-Gatineau. There was a time when this requirement made some sense – in the days before reliable telecommunications, especially video technology. However, today it acts as a significant barrier to a geographic diversity of appointments to tribunals. It also significantly limits the pool of available candidates for specialized tribunals.

Not all federal tribunals have this residency requirement. Some tribunals have . . . [more]

This column is a cautionary tale for adjudicators who use social media such as the platform formerly known as Twitter – although equally applicable to other social media platforms such as LinkedIn. In Law Society of Ontario v. Diamond, 2024 ONLSTA 8 (CanLII), the appeal panel of Ontario’s Law Society Tribunal, found that the current chair of the Tribunal should have recused himself from a conduct hearing based on comments he had made on social media prior to being assigned to the panel, related to the lawyer whose conduct was under scrutiny (Jeremy Diamond of Diamond & Diamond).

Jeremy . . . [more]

It seems that the world is experiencing more serious and intractable conflict. Our brains are hardwired to focus on bad news, which is everywhere and which can lead to stress and even despair. As conflict management professionals, what can we do to navigate these stormy times?

I offer a hat tip to Tammy Lenski for linking to this article by William Ury:

3 Ways to Make Conflict Less Destructive

William Ury is well known to most of you as an acclaimed mediator, co-founder of Harvard’s Program on Negotiation, co- author of the famous “Getting to Yes” and author of “Possible . . . [more]

A mediation critic claims “mediators have no teeth”. This is to suggest that mediators have no power. The thinking being that a mediator’s lack of decision making renders them without authority.

Mediation is a process of self-determination for the parties participating in it. The mediator is a neutral facilitator, not an outcome imposer. For that reason, a mediator’s settlement rate is as misleading a statistic as a pitcher’s wins in baseball. Baseball fans know that a pitcher cannot earn a win without their team scoring runs, a task the pitcher is not involved in. Likewise, whether or not a case . . . [more]

People’s Law School recently launched a ChatGPT-4 powered Chatbot to respond to questions posed by visitors to PLS’s website. The Chatbot is named Beagle+ and it has a very cute icon.

This PLS post describes the Chatbot and provides some examples of questions and responses. I was particularly intrigued with the assertion that it provides “helpful and empathetic” responses to peoples’ legal questions. I’m skeptical about AI’s ability to communicate effective empathy. But I was surprised to read the final example in the post:

Beagle+: Before you go, I just want to remind you to take care of

Everyone is the poet of their memories. … But like the best poems, they’re also never really finished because they gain new meaning as time reveals them in different lights.

Richard Hell

The resolution of disputes does not always depend on the memories of parties or witnesses, but when credibility is at issue the memories of actions can be a critical part of resolving disputes. The more we learn about how memories are formed, and more importantly, how they are retained, the more we should have real concerns about the ability of decision-makers to assess credibility of testimony of events . . . [more]

The use of demonstrative or visual aids at mediation is more widely accepted by lawyers and mediators since the legal profession began its rapid embrace of technology. Arguably, the pandemic accelerated this implementation. The technology adoption started with the exchange of electronic mediation briefs, improved access to scanned documents, and the use of video software, like Zoom and Teams. Now, counsel more commonly use Power Point or slides and electronic documentation in their introductory remarks, and present demonstrative aids in their Mediation Briefs to bolster arguments by visual communication.

Through technology, counsel can now utilize a variety of demonstrative aids . . . [more]

Note: In this article, the term “culture” is used broadly and is intended to mean anything and everything related to one’s customs, beliefs, behaviours and habits attributable to the make-up of who they are. It embraces the concept introduced to the writer by legendary professor Michelle LeBaron which appreciates that each individual person subscribes to several different cultures. Any one person may have a cultural component of themselves attributable to their age, surroundings, work, etc.

Afsana Gibson-Chowdhury is the founder of Gibson Chowdhury, Clear Collaborative Mediation and a renowned advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion among legal, dispute resolution and . . . [more]

“There are few things more important than one’s name. It reflects one’s identity, individuality and human dignity.” Adam Dodek, “Mispronouncing names isn’t okay, and it has nothing to do with being ‘woke’”

There’s a movement underway in the legal community to focus attention on the proper pronunciation of names in legal settings. There is a growing recognition that the proper pronunciation of names shows respect and is more inclusive. The minimal effort involved in promoting the proper pronunciation of names can result in a more welcoming and respectful hearing room.

In 2022, the Law Society of Ontario recommended the use . . . [more]

Access to justice applies to everyone. However, most formal access to justice initiatives focus (rightly) on people who are especially vulnerable due to poverty or very low income. IAALS (the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System) has just launched a new, organized network of individuals and organizations across the U.S. and in Canada who are committed to improving A2J for the “middle-class”.

It is called the Above the Line Network (ATLN).

The idea is to create a collaborative community to share ideas, resources and learnings and work together on innovative ways to meet the needs of this . . . [more]

“Cash rules everything around me, C.R.E.A.M. Get the money. Dollar, dollar bill, y’all”
– Wu-Tang Clan

While it gets skewed on tv, mediation involves the mediator having no interest in any particular outcome of a dispute. That scene in Friends where Ross “mediates” a quarrel between Monica and Chandler to keep them on track to move in together so that he can live with Rachel isn’t true mediation. A mediator would have nothing to gain whether Monica and Chandler live together or not.

In real life, sometimes someone with a specific outcome interest takes on what may present as a . . . [more]

My Dad, who passed away in 2006, had a collection of favorite sayings. At one point we packaged them up and listed the top 10 ala David Letterman. At the top of the list was the phrase “listen you might learn something”. Over the years I have begun to understand more deeply the wisdom of his words.

Listening well is a key competency for being a good human. It is especially important for those in leadership and in the conflict management disciplines, such as law, mediation, arbitration. There are probably thousands of books and articles written on what effective listening . . . [more]