Dispute Resolution Conference 2012


Course Date: May 11, 2012

Welcome and Introduction

Colleen J. Cattell, QC — Fitzpatrick & Company, Vancouver
David R. Merner — Executive Director, Dispute Resolution Office, Justice Services Branch, Ministry of Justice, Victoria

Keynote Address: Justice Reform: The Challenge of Modernizing Systems—Comments From the New Deputy Minister for Justice Reform

Lori Wanamaker — Deputy Minister for Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice, Victoria

Revisiting Mediation’s Interest Based Roots

  • revisiting mediation's historic roots—are we leveraging mediation's full potential?
  • what are the market pressures on mediation and facilitation?
  • how do we increase the levels of engagement among parties? conflict and identity—how it challenges our work

Featured Speaker: Joseph P. McMahon Jr. — Joseph P. McMahon Jr. LLC, Denver, Colorado
J. Gary Fitzpatrick, QC — Fitzpatrick & Company, West Vancouver

Networking Break

Neuroscience

  • lost on the neural pathways: understanding cognitive biases and their impact on decision making in dispute resolution

Nancy J. Cameron, QC — Nancy Cameron Law Corporation, Vancouver

Concurrent Sessions #1 (choose 1)

A. Emerging Developments—Interactive Session on the New Civil Dispute Resolution Tribunal
(AVAILABLE ONLINE)

  • what do consumers of justice services want?
  • why do we need a DR tribunal
  • what DR processes should we build in?
  • online dispute resolution: panacea or problem?

David R. Merner — Executive Director, Dispute Resolution Office, Justice Services Branch, Ministry of Justice, Victoria
Darin Thompson — Legal Counsel, Dispute Resolution Office, Justice Services Branch, Ministry of Justice, Victoria

B.  Resolution Out of Court Preferred—Collaboration, Culture, and the Family Law Act (NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE)

  • what are the objectives of the Family Law Act?
  • what does “appropriate family dispute resolution” mean?
  • what are some challenges in applying the FLA and meeting the FLA objectives?
  • what is the bar’s role in shaping practice under the FLA?

Nancy Carter — Executive Director, Civil & Family Law Policy Office, Justice Services Branch, Ministry of Justice, Victoria
M. Jerry McHale, QC — Lam Chair in Law and Public Policy, University of Victoria, Victoria

Lunch With Featured Speaker: “Does Justice Look Like this? Mediation on Television”

  • how popular culture shapes image of mediation

Sharon B. Sutherland — Faculty of Law at Allard Hall, University of BC, Vancouver

Concurrent Sessions #2 (choose 1)

A. Judicial Dispute Resolution (AVAILABLE ONLINE)

  • the thriving judicial dispute resolution program in Alberta
  • the role of JDR in BC’s Provincial Court

The Honourable Mr. Justice Robert A. Graesser — Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, Edmonton
The Honourable Judge Donna M. Senniw — Provincial Court of BC, Vancouver

B. Mediating High Conflict Disputes (NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE)

  • understanding people with high conflict behavior
  • skills for dealing with high conflict personalities
  • coaching the high conflict client to engage in problem-solving
  • managing our own reactions

Michael J. Lomax — Milton, Johnson, Victoria

Networking Break

Concurrent Sessions #3: Selection of New Developments (choose 1)

A. DR Processes Under the New FLA: Mediation, Arbitration, Parenting Coordination, and Collaborative Law
(AVAILABLE ONLINE)

  • what is our new normal?
  • introducing the "family dispute resolution"
  • expanded duties for the new breed of professional

John-Paul E. Boyd — Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger, Vancouver
Nancy J. Cameron, QC — Nancy Cameron Law Corporation, Vancouver
Arlene H. Henry, QC — Arlene H. Henry Law Corporation, Vancouver
Karen F. Nordlinger, QC — Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger, Vancouver

B. Elder Mediation (NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE)

  • how is it unique?
  • practice tips for dealing with vulnerable or incapable older adults
  • the elder mediation practice environment
  • relevant guardianship laws including recent legislative developments

Joan Braun — Vista Law Group, Vancouver
Jay Chalke, QC — Assistant Deputy Minister, Justice Services Branch, Ministry of Justice, Victoria
Margaret Hall — Faculty of Law, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops
Barbara Lindsay — Senior Manager, Advocacy and Public Policy, Alzheimer Society of British Columbia, Vancouver

C. Complaints Mediation (NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE)

  • professional regulatory bodies, acting in the public interest, must investigate increasingly complex matters in a timely and thorough manner
  • learn how dispute resolution processes are being used to assist regulators to meet their mandate

Neil Hain — Solvit Dispute Resolution, Vancouver
Michael J. Lomax — Milton, Johnson, Victoria

Closing Plenary: The Future of Justice Reform in BC

Keynote: D. Geoffrey Cowper, QC — Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver