Find Lawyers in Quebec, Canada for Family Law Mediation
Practice Area Overview
Collaborative law is a newer alternate dispute resolution process available in many Canadian provinces and is particularly useful in family law matters. In this process, each person has their own lawyer who represents only their client. The lawyers have specialized training in collaborative law, interest-based negotiation and/or mediation. The clients and their lawyers agree by written contract to stay out of the court system to resolve their disputes. The couple and their lawyers attend meetings together to discuss their interests, define issues, generate options and determine solutions. Voluntary disclosure, particularly about financial issues that is satisfactory to the clients and their lawyers, is important to its success. Collaborative lawyers are obliged to explain the law to their clients and ensure that they understand their rights and obligations. The meetings, the minutes of the meetings, and the disclosure received cannot be disclosed if the matter proceeds to litigation. When a couple successfully negotiates a resolution, the lawyers prepare and the couple signs a formal written agreement. If the couple agrees, uncontested court matters such as divorce can be dealt with by their collaborative lawyers. If the couple cannot reach an agreement on some or all issues, the lawyers and their firms must withdraw and cannot act for their client in court regarding any matters dealt with in the collaborative process.
Both mediation and the collaborative process require that those involved agree to the process. In both mediation and the collaborative process, the couple has greater control of the cost, the timing, and the result. Mediation and the collaborative process can be less adversarial and can minimize the negative emotional consequences of litigation. The processes are private and confidential and usually take less time on average to reach a conclusion than the court process. Both mediation and collaborative law try to assist the couple to communicate in a more constructive and productive manner. The goal with both processes is to reach a resolution with each person’s participation. This is considered more desirable than a court-imposed resolution and may have greater chance of long-term compliance.
Patricia Fourcand, Ad.E., practices family law at the Montreal office of Fourcand, Tremblay, Kissel, Plante . She has a recognized expertise in family litigation with an international law component. She received the designation of Emeritus Lawyer from the Quebec Bar in 2021. Patricia has worked on complex cases, such as child abductions, the validity of foreign or religious marriages, as well as the multijurisdictional division of assets. Her representations as regards the rights of fathers w...
Ms. Caroline Harnois is a member of the Family Law, Personal Law and Estate Law team. Her practice is focused on all aspects of family and estate law, which comprises private international family law, including international child abduction. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Harnois worked as a lawyer with the Children, Person and Family Law team at The Hague Conference on Private International Law in the Netherlands, where she developed an expertise in extraterritorial conflicts and the applica...
Élisabeth Pinard is the partner who coordinates the firm's Family law, personal law, and estate law group. She acts primarily as litigator in complex divorce cases as well as in private international law, inheritance disputes, and elder law. She is also a certified mediator. Ms. Pinard also acts as counsel to accounting and valuation firms on the legal impact of marital breakdown in matters of succession, business transfers, protective trusts, and the valuation of private corporations....
Suzanne H. Pringle is a seasoned litigator with over 38 years of experience pleading before courts of all jurisdictions, including the Superior Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. After having practiced banking and insolvency law within a renowned firm in Montreal for the first 5 years of her career as an attorney, Suzanne founded her own firm in 1988. Since then, she focuses her practice solely on family law matters. Suzanne’s firm has built its reputation in th...
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