Negotiation, mediation and arbitration

Commercial

The Dunton Rainville team includes lawyers who specialize in commercial arbitration and mediation, some of whom are also accredited arbitrators and mediators.

Our varied expertise includes negotiation, drafting arbitration and mediation clauses for inclusion in commercial contracts, preparing settlement or mediation conferences, developing arbitration strategies, preparing customized rules of procedure and providing legal services related to mediation and arbitration clauses.

Lawyers from our negotiation, mediation and arbitration team are sometimes called upon to represent governments, investors or private companies in territorial arbitrations, intellectual property disputes or commercial litigation. Some of our lawyers are also members of the Institut de médiation et d’arbitrage du Québec, the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Canada and similar international associations.

Specialized services:

• Drafting arbitration and mediation clauses for inclusion in commercial contracts
• Preparation of settlement and mediation conferences
• Development of arbitration strategies
• Preparation of customized rules of procedure
• Provision of legal services relating to mediation and arbitration clauses
• Territorial arbitration
• Intellectual property disputes
• Shareholder disputes

Real estate

Our team of professionals who specialize in real estate is well aware of the many advantages of mediation and arbitration, including the confidentiality of the process, the speed of execution versus legal proceedings, and the flexibility and reduced costs because they are shared by the parties.

Knowing that real estate sales contracts contain mediation and arbitration clauses that allow buyers and sellers to seek a settlement to any dispute before taking the matter to court, Dunton Rainville lawyers and notaries always seek to resolve disputes by these means, given that the legal route is often fraught with pitfalls.

Our team members are committed to resolving real estate disputes first through mediation, then through arbitration, should it become necessary. The mediation process leaves a great deal of latitude to the parties, and is somewhat more flexible than the arbitration process, as it is not binding. If arbitration is preferred, the parties must submit a request to the arbitrator, who will then prepare an arbitration agreement for them to sign. The parties may be represented by a professional (lawyer or notary) and call witnesses. The arbitrator’s written decision is binding on the parties. Arbitrators and mediators, who are appointed by the parties, can intervene in a wide range of disputes, including those listed below.

Specialized services:

• Defects or latent defects
• Apportionment of costs between buyer and seller of the property sold
• Neighbourhood nuisances likely to affect sale price
• Poor operation or management of the condominium association
• Disputes related to servitudes
• Non-compliance with the obligation to deliver a conforming property
• Encroachment on private property
• Non-compliance with contractual clauses
• Non-compliance with subdivision specifications
• Execution of a real estate agent’s mandate
• Agent’s fees

Work

Members of the Dunton Rainville team who specialize in employment law often prefer non-judicial dispute resolution, including negotiation, conciliation, mediation and arbitration, particularly because they are less costly than litigation.

Negotiation enables the parties to work together to achieve a satisfactory resolution to a workplace dispute. Conciliation involves a neutral party who acts as an intermediary between the parties, whether to rebuild bridges or resolve a conflict.

The firm’s professionals also have significant experience in mediation and arbitration. Mediation involves a third party who helps the parties resolve their differences and find a mutually beneficial solution. Mediation is a non-binding, amicable and confidential process for resolving disputes. In an arbitration situation, on the other hand, the arbitrator’s decision is binding and final, leaving the parties less latitude to resolve their labour dispute. This is why, in many business sectors, arbitration is often seen as a last resort when other alternative dispute resolution methods have failed. Our professionals understand that workplace disputes can be individual or collective in nature, and provide specialized services to their clients accordingly.

Specialized services:

• Wrongful dismissal (e.g., recourse for dismissal, collective dismissal)
• Psychological, sexual or racial harassment
• Occupational health and safety
• Grievance arbitration
• Non-competition and non-solicitation clauses
• Negotiation, mediation and arbitration of collective agreements
• Employment contracts
• Discrimination
• Pensions and benefits
• Defamation
• Invasion of privacy

Civil

By definition, the purpose of civil mediation or arbitration is to find common ground in any dispute that arises outside a commercial context. These are disputes between private individuals.

Our team of professionals is composed of lawyers who are accredited as mediators or arbitrators after pursuing additional training. As civil mediators or arbitrators, they represent their clients in various areas of law involving disputes between private individuals, including labour, real estate, family, construction and estate law.

In any dispute between individuals, Dunton Rainville lawyers are quick to favour negotiated settlements over litigation, which is often lengthy and costly. Moreover, our lawyers are well aware that the new Code of Civil Procedure, as set out in its Preliminary Provision, “is designed to provide, in the public interest, means to prevent and resolve disputes and avoid litigation through appropriate, efficient and fair-minded processes that encourage the persons involved to play an active role.” Negotiation, mediation and arbitration are therefore the dispute resolution methods favoured by our team.

Specialized services:

• Civil liability
• Small Claims Court proceedings
• Drafting of formal notices
• Neighbourhood disturbances
• Breach of contract
• Wills and estates
• Construction law
• Real estate law
• Employment law
• Family law

Family

Since certain provisions of the Civil Code prohibit arbitration in family and protective supervision matters, our team of experienced lawyers favours family mediation to resolve disputes and avoiding litigation.

These disputes may concern a number of issues, including child custody following a separation or divorce, alimony, protective supervision (curatorship, tutorship, advisor to an adult) and the division of family property and assets.

Dunton Rainville lawyers are aware that family mediation raises many sensitive issues. In addition to their established expertise in the field, they accompany our clients through every stage of mediation, which can be an emotion process. They show empathy towards their clients and ensure that family mediation proceeds as harmoniously as possible between the parties, especially when children are involved.

Specialized services:

• Child custody following separation or divorce
• Child support (children and ex-spouses)
• Protective supervision (e.g., curatorship and tutorship)
• Division of assets and debts
• Division of family assets
• Supervised access or visitation rights
• Sale of property
• Budget after separation or divorce
• Division and determination of post-secondary education expenses for adult children
• Exercise of parental authority
• Ending child support for an independent child