John-Paul Boyd Arbitration Chambers uses technology to streamline our processes and resolve family law disputes as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. Day-to-day communication occurs largely by email, and documents are shared in electronic form through a secure client dropbox. Although we hold conferences and hearings in person when useful and necessary, most meetings are held remotely, by teleconference or videoconference, through reliable, easy-to-use software.

The technology we use allows us to serve clients throughout all of Alberta and British Columbia, even in rural and remote areas where lawyers are few and far between, never mind lawyers who focus on family law. This approach also lets us resolve disputes between people who live in different cities, in different provinces, and in different time zones. 

It’s true that meetings and hearings sometimes work better in person. But with an experienced family law lawyer, managing mediation and arbitration by videoconference is a safe, effective, and sometimes necessary option.

an effective alternative to court

As the world responded to COVID-19, the governments of Alberta and British Columbia significantly limited access to the courts. This was a sensible reaction, from a public health perspective, but these decisions only aggravated the problems most Canadians experienced accessing the courts before the pandemic.

Limiting access to the courthouse didn’t make people’s legal problems go away. While disputes between companies, the people involved in a car accident and neighbours who disagree about a property line can probably wait, family law disputes usually can’t. Especially when a dispute involves the health and wellbeing of children, parenting schedules or the payment of support.

Mediation and arbitration are recognized alternatives to litigation in Alberta and British Columbia. The agreements produced through mediation, and the orders and awards produced through arbitration, are accepted and routinely enforced by the courts in both provinces. The court will rarely interfere with fairly negotiated agreements or with orders and awards that resulted from a fair decision-making process.

a speedy alternative to court

When family law disputes go to court, the people involved often find themselves making or responding to applications for orders long before they get to trial. These applications are usually about important problems that can’t wait until trial to be resolved, such as urgent problems involving children, children’s safety and wellbeing, the payment of child support and parents’ contributions to their children’s special expenses, parenting schedules, and the payment of spousal support.

Before the pandemic, applications like these would normally take a month or two to be heard by a judge, or longer for more complicated applications. This sort of routine delay, before access to the courts was restricted, resulted from the busyness of the court’s schedule and the challenges of resolving so many applications involving so many families without enough judges.

Mediation meetings and arbitration hearings — especially those held by teleconference or videoconference — can be scheduled as soon as the parties and their lawyers are available. Because mediators and arbitrators generally work longer hours than those available in the short court day, and are often available to deal with problems after normal business hours and on weekends, urgent problems can usually be resolved in a matter of days rather than months.

a flexible alternative to court

Problems that are resolved through the courts are managed by the rules of court, and no one, including judges, has much discretion to avoid litigation processes that are unnecessary, or shape those processes to better suit the needs and budgets of different families.

In mediation and arbitration, fairness and efficicency are more important than rules that are designed to accommodate every kind of person in every kind of legal dispute. Mediation and arbitration processes can be developed to suit the particular circumstances of each family, and adapted to suit the importance, value and complexity of the particular issues the family needs to resolve. Read our Arbitration Procedure page to learn about the many procedural options available for the arbitration of family law disputes.

what you need to participate

First you need a reasonably good internet connection. Not a great connection, just a reasonably good one. And if you’re reading this online, you’ve got that.

Second, you need a computer with a microphone and a videocamera. Your smartphone has those things built in, and so do most laptop computers and many desktop computers. If your computer doesn’t have a microphone and videocamera, you can buy a pretty good webcam that includes a microphone for less than $60 from Amazon or Staples. Logitech is a good brand.

remote arbitration hearing guidelines for lawyers

While arbitration hearings conducted remotely are run in much the same way as hearings conducted in person, there are a few extra steps that must be taken to ensure the reliability of the internet connection, ease of access to documents and exhibits, and the integrity of any oral evidence that is given. If you are a lawyer and your hearing will be held by videoconference, download our guidelines for remote arbitration hearings.