Reflecting on my experiences in the BC Court Mediation Program

Between 2002 and 2015, I worked as a court-based mediator, usually a couple of days a month, in the BC Court Mediation Program (CMP). The program was administered by Mediate BC and funded by the province of British Columbia.  As per this recent Mediate BC tweet, the CMP is closing its’ doors. (In the picture are Lee Turnbull, […]

A Basic 3-Step Model to Help You Resolve a Business Dispute

“This is taking up way more time than its worth”. Those are words I often hear from people weighed down by a business dispute. As a mediator of business disputes (and other non-criminal civil disputes), here is a basic 3-step framework model that I commonly use to help people move from dispute to resolution. You […]

Offering a Continuum of Choices is a Trusted Collaborative Problem Solving Technique

When we’re stuck on a problem, and filled with negativity, the options lean to either/or.  When we articulate the spaces in-between, new possibilities emerge, a continuum of choices.   A continuum of choices reduces the risk of either/or, win/lose, and encourages collaborative problem solving. Offer a continuum As a contract court mediator with Mediate BC, […]

Shopping for Dispute Resolution Services in the Year 2025

We’re amok in information.  We know it.  We feel it.   “90% of data in the world today has been created in the last two years.” (source: IBM)  Yet, with intention and considerable effort, you can curate and make sense of information, connect conversations in the data “stream”, and get a feel for what lies ahead. […]

Geek Girls: The Next Dispute Resolution Superheroes?

Fifty years ago there was only a few different communication channels.  If you wanted to have a conversation with someone, you had two basic options; meet in-person or call them on the telephone.  Today, thanks (or no thanks, as the case may be) to technology, your options have increased, a lot… add to the above: email, text, internet […]