Going the distance for our clients...
Mediator | Arbitrator | Adjunct Professor | Family Law | Wills and Estates | Intellectual Property | Media and Entertainment Law
When dealing with high-conflict personalities in a volatile family law matter it is often the case that you have to begin by "meeting the parties where they are." Normally this means putting aside any notion of what we think the parties need, and endeavouring to simply understand where they actually *are* in their journey. It begins by listening without judgment, asking questions openly and honestly, and above all recognizing that they are human beings with a whole set of reasons and emotions behind everything that they do. In the case of the 13 hour long mediation that I successfully completed with clients last Friday, "meeting them where they are" also took on a very literal meaning -- requiring the mediation to be conducted out of a converted shipping container, next to a couple of picnic tables, and a camping trailer, outdoors, in the industrial back lot of an old retail store front, in the heart of downtown Squamish. To say that I "had some reservations" about conducting a successful shuttle mediation, between such intensely high-conflict parties, out of a converted shipping container and camping trailer, (with no air conditioning and on the first day of a heat wave), would be an understatement. In the end - it was perfect. The converted shipping container, along with the camping trailer, plus three other "mini-offices" constructed out of corrugated steel, in addition to the converted retail storefront itself -- now equipped with modern workstations, a great little kitchen, plus a couple of flex use "chill zones" with informal seating options -- are all part of a truly unique, locally owned and operated, boho-chic, workspace cooperative known as "The Common (https://www.thecommon.io/). If ever you need meeting or workspace in Squamish... this the place to go! Obviously the alternative was to book one of the usual meeting spaces in downtown Vancouver, or the North Shore, and have the clients come into town for the day. However, for reasons connected to the high-conflict nature of their relationship, only the husband has a vehicle. Coming to Vancouver for the "shuttle mediation" would have required them to spend about an hour and half driving in from Squamish, and then back again, trapped together in the cab of a pick-up truck, with nothing to do but sit and stew about why they were making the journey in the first place, and, most likely, "who's fault it is." To further complicate matters, the parties have two young children, with very limited childcare options and no school or daycare. So, when it became clear that this mediation needed to happen "in person and in Squamish," I set about finding a spot. In the end the clients deeply appreciated both the effort and the convenience -- which undoubtedly set the tone for the successful outcome we achieved. Thanks so much to "The Common." You saved the day.