(289) 892-4281Alternative Dispute Resolution
Choose the Best Path for
Your Best Outcome
We can help in the early stages of your breakdown to assess what path will lead to the best outcomes for your situation.
Need help understanding the best path for you?
Practising Exclusively in Family Law Across Southern Ontario
Family Law Alternative Dispute Resolution
AP Lawyers helps you understand your options early, including the advantages, limitations and legal consequences of each process, so that you can make an informed decision about how to proceed.
Going to court is not the only way to resolve a family law dispute. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) can be a valuable alternative for Ontario families.
AP Lawyers assists clients with different forms of family dispute resolution: mediation, collaborative family law, negotiation and arbitration are all methods of ADR offering different ways to address separation or divorce.
When to Choose Alternative Dispute Resolution
The important question is not simply whether ADR is better than court, but rather which process is appropriate for the people, issues and circumstances involved. Some families benefit from a process that gives them greater control over the outcome. Others need a neutral third party to make a binding decision but would prefer to resolve their dispute outside the public court process. Privacy can be particularly important to business owners, professionals, executives and families dealing with sensitive financial or personal information. In other cases, safety concerns, family violence, significant power imbalances, urgent issues or persistent non-compliance may make court intervention necessary.
We can help in the early stages of your breakdown to assess what path will lead to the best outcomes for your situation.
How AP Lawyers Helps with Family Dispute Resolution
Choosing a dispute-resolution process can affect how a family law case develops, what it costs, who controls the outcome, how private the process may be and what happens if settlement efforts fail. AP Lawyers offers valuable counsel during your that process.
The appropriate process depends on the family, the legal issues and the circumstances of the separation. Our role is to help clients understand those choices and make informed decisions about how to move forward.
Explaining available dispute-resolution options
Advising clients about their rights and obligations
Representing clients through collaborative family law
Reviewing proposed settlement terms
Advising clients participating in mediation
Providing mediation services where appropriate
Identifying disclosure requirements
Representing clients during negotiations
Preparing separation agreements and other documentation
Moving between negotiation, ADR and litigation when circumstances require a different approach.
What Is Alternative Dispute
Resolution in Family Law?
Alternative Dispute Resolution refers to processes used to resolve family law disputes without asking a judge to decide every contested issue. Different forms of ADR work in fundamentally different ways. This distinction matters. Choosing a dispute-resolution process is partly about deciding who should control the outcome: the parties themselves, or a neutral decision-maker.
AP Lawyers helps clients with their family law matters through negotiation, mediation, collaborative family law practices and representation for arbitration-mediation.
In negotiation, mediation and collaborative family law, the parties retain control over whether they reach an agreement. A mediator can facilitate negotiations but does not impose a decision.
In arbitration or in hybrid processes like mediation-arbitration (med-arb) a neutral arbitrator is authorized to decide specified issues. Provided Ontario's legal requirements are satisfied, the arbitrator's decision can be binding and enforceable.
What Happens During Family Mediation?
Mediation may be used before a court case begins or while litigation is already underway. Depending on the issues, mediation may involve:
● Identifying the matters that remain in dispute
● Exchanging relevant information
● Discussing parenting arrangements
● Addressing child or spousal support
● Considering property and financial issues
● Developing settlement options
● Working toward terms that both parties can accept
Why Use AP Lawyers
for Family Mediation
AP Lawyers helps families through both our mediation practice as well as providing legal counsel for clients who have opted for the mediation process.
Mediation
As Mediator’s, we act as the neutral third party to help people discuss their disagreements and explore possible solutions. We facilitate the process but do not represent either party, provide legal advice to either party or decide the dispute. Our job is to help the participants negotiate.
Family Law
Mediation does not replace independent legal advice. As family lawyers, our role is different. We advise own clients about legal rights, obligations, risks and proposed settlement terms before and during the process. If mediation produces a proposed agreement, we provide independent legal advice prior to signing an agreement of binding legal obligations.
Learn More About Our Mediation Practice
What Makes Collaborative Family Law Different?
One of its defining features is the commitment to the collaborative process. If the collaborative process ends without a settlement and one of the parties decides to proceed to court, the parties generally must retain different lawyers for the litigation. That creates a significant incentive for everyone involved to work constructively toward resolution, but it is also a consequence that should be understood before choosing the process.
Why Use AP Lawyers
for Collaborative Family Law
Our Collaborative Family Law practice offers a structured negotiation process. Each party has their own collaboratively trained lawyer, we act exclusively for our client. We agree with our client and the other parties to commit to attempting to resolve the family law issues without litigation. Rather than preparing to argue the dispute before a judge, we work toward a negotiated resolution. Depending on the circumstances, we may also have other professionals involved, including financial or family professionals.
Who Can Benefit From Collaborative Family Law?
Collaborative family law is not limited to couples who agree about everything. It may be worth considering where both parties are willing and able to participate meaningfully in negotiations, provide necessary disclosure and work toward resolution even though significant disagreements remain. Its suitability depends on the circumstances.
Learn More About Our
Collaborative Family Law Practice
Can Family Law Matters be Resolved Through Negotiation?
Negotiation is one of the most common ways family law disputes are resolved. The parties may negotiate directly, through their lawyers, or through a combination of meetings, written proposals and lawyer-to-lawyer communications. Negotiations can address one issue or attempt to resolve the entire case.
The central feature of negotiation is that neither party can unilaterally impose a settlement on the other. An agreement is reached only if both parties accept the terms. Family law negotiations can involve legal and financial consequences that are not always obvious. The objective is not merely to reach an agreement. It is to understand what is being agreed to and its potential consequences.
Why Use AP Lawyers
During Negotiation
We help our clients:
● Understand their legal rights and obligations
● Identify information or financial disclosure that may be required
● Evaluate settlement proposals
● Identify issues that have not yet been addressed
● Negotiate terms on the client's behalf
● Properly document a settlement
Call Us to Find Out How We
Support Your Family Law Negotiations
When is Arbitration or
Mediation-Arbitration a Good Idea?
During arbitration, the couple hires an arbitrator and proceeds in a method similar to court, however an arbitrator cannot grant divorce or an annulment. They can decide on custody, support, access and how to divide any family property. While arbitration may be designed to be non-binding, in most cases the arbitrator’s decisions must be obeyed and they can be enforced.
What Is Mediation-Arbitration?
Mediation-arbitration (med-arb) combines two different dispute-resolution processes. The parties first attempt to resolve their disagreements through mediation and the objective is a voluntary settlement. If specified issues remain unresolved, the process moves to arbitration for an arbitrator to decide. Med-arb appeals to people who want an opportunity to reach their own agreement, but with a mechanism for obtaining a final decision if negotiations reach an impasse.
Why Use AP Lawyers
During Arbitration
It's imperative to know your rights when dealing with an arbitrator as they can only decide on the issues that you bring to their attention. If you are unaware of your rights, your interest could be at risk. We help ensure you are aware of your rights and act to protect your best interest.
Because mediation and arbitration perform very different functions, the structure of a med-arb process and its legal implications should be understood before the parties agree to participate. That's where AP Lawyers can help, our practice in mediation helps inform your process at every stage.
Call Us to Find Out How We Protect Your Interest Throughout the Arbitration Process
Things to Consider When Choosing a Dispute Resolution Process
ADR can be a strategic choice and there is no universal formula to decide on the path. The objective is not to choose ADR simply because court sounds undesirable, it’s to choose a process that fits the dispute. Some useful questions to consider are:
Do both parties have enough information to negotiate?
Meaningful negotiations generally require appropriate disclosure, particularly where support or property is at issue.
Can each person participate effectively?
Communication dynamics, family violence, coercive control, intimidation and other power imbalances should be considered.
Do you want to control the final outcome?
Negotiation, mediation and collaborative family law leave the settlement decision with the parties. If you need someone else to decide an issue, arbitration or court may be more appropriate.
What happens if you cannot agree?
If an impasse is likely, consider whether you need a process that can ultimately produce a decision, such as arbitration or court.
How complicated are the issues?
Cases involving businesses, significant assets, pensions, complex compensation, disputed income or difficult parenting issues may require additional professional expertise regardless of the process selected.
Is anything urgent?
Some circumstances require immediate legal protection or a court order. An ADR process should not delay necessary action where an urgent issue exists.
Is preserving a functional relationship important?
Where parents will continue coordinating their children's lives for years to come, the effect of the process on future communication may be an important consideration.
Is privacy important?
If the parties need a neutral decision-maker but privacy is a significant concern, arbitration may be worth considering as an alternative to litigation. Consider whether resolving the dispute may require disclosure of sensitive personal, professional or financial information.
Speak With AP Lawyers About Your
Dispute Resolution Options
A separation does not automatically have to result in a courtroom battle. It also does not mean that avoiding court should be the objective at any cost. The appropriate approach is one that provides a realistic, safe and legally informed path toward resolving the issues that matter to your family.
For some people, that means negotiating an agreement. For others, mediation or collaborative family law provides the structure needed to reach a resolution.
AP Lawyers helps clients understand and navigate negotiation, mediation, collaborative family law, arbitration and family court proceedings across Ontario.
If you are separating, already involved in a dispute-resolution process, or trying to decide what should happen next, call us about the options available.
Frequently Asked Questions
We've Handled it Before
Our team practices in every area of family law, whatever comes your way.
Practising Exclusively in Family Law for Close to 20 Years.
Our experienced negotiators and accomplished litigators serve Toronto and GTA (Greater Toronto Area), York Region (Markham, Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Newmarket), Durham Region (Pickering, Ajax, Oshawa) and Peel Region (Brampton) with offices in Toronto and Pickering.
Our team includes associates fluent in English, Arabic, Yoruba, Tamil.
