Mediation-Arbitration

Skilled alternative dispute resolution, a confidential, efficient path to resolution that keeps a dispute out of open court and, often, keeps a relationship intact.

Scope of work

• Commercial & civil mediation
• Private arbitration
• Med-arb (combined process)
• Family & separation mediation
• Construction & contract ADR
• Arbitration & ADR clause drafting
• Enforcement of arbitral awards
• Early neutral evaluation

Not every dispute belongs in a courtroom, and many are actively harmed by being put there. Litigation is public, expensive, slow, and adversarial by design, and for parties who must continue to do business together, or who simply want a faster and more private outcome, alternative dispute resolution is frequently the wiser route. The firm offers and advises on the full spectrum of these processes.

Mediation is a facilitated negotiation: a neutral mediator helps the parties reach their own agreement, with no power to impose a result. It is confidential, comparatively inexpensive, and well suited to disputes where preserving a commercial or personal relationship matters. Arbitration is different in kind: the parties present their case to a private decision-maker whose award is binding and enforceable, offering the finality of a judgment without the cost and exposure of a public trial. Med-arb combines the two, beginning in mediation and converting to a binding determination if agreement is not reached.

In Nova Scotia, private arbitration is supported by the province’s arbitration legislation, and arbitral awards, including international awards under the framework that gives effect to the New York Convention, are recognized and enforceable by the courts. We advise on which process fits a given dispute, represent parties within mediation and arbitration, and act as a neutral where appropriate. Just as importantly, we draft the dispute-resolution clauses in commercial agreements that determine, long before any conflict arises, how it will be handled, a small piece of careful drafting that can save a client enormous cost down the line.

The firm’s litigation experience is what makes its ADR work effective. Knowing precisely how a matter would play out at trial, its strengths, its weaknesses, and its likely cost, is the strongest possible foundation for resolving it without one.