Calgary Family Arbitrators Mediators Lawyers at MacLean Law’s downtown Calgary explain that key benefits of family arbitrations are that they provide a discreet, timely and binding resolution of Alberta family law financial and child custody and parenting time disagreements. Peter Graburn leads our Calgary family arbitration and mediation team in Calgary. Peter Graburn is on the Alberta roster as a family mediator and arbitrator.
Calgary Family Arbitrators Mediators Lawyers
Calgary family law arbitrations occur in private before senior family lawyers who are trained as Calgary family arbitrators. The Calgary family arbitration process for medium to high net worth Calgary family law clients involves:
- each side being represented by skilled senior family lawyers;
- the parties agreeing in advance on how the process will be conducted and often this will involve a Calgary family mediation first and if that fails; then
- the matter will proceed to arbitration and each party will give evidence under oath and be cross examined; and
- after hearing evidence and arguments by each lawyer the Calgary family arbitrator will impose a binding agreement that resolves the dispute.
- to encourage finality there is a very limited right of appeal from a Calgary family arbitration.
Appeals
The Alberta Court of Appeal recently explained the benefits of arbitrations for Calgary Family Arbitrators Mediators Lawyers and their clients in a case called Driscoll v Hautz, 2018 ABCA 272 (CanLII) and why Appeals have to abide by strict rules:
[1] The applicant applies, pursuant to s. 48 of the Arbitration Act, RSA 2000, c. A-43, for permission to appeal the decision reported as Driscoll v Hautz, 2018 ABQB 426 (CanLII).
[3] The Arbitration Act provides limited opportunities for the litigants to seek a review of an award in the courts:
(a) If the arbitration agreement so provides, s. 44(1) allows an appeal on a question of law, a question of fact, or on a question of mixed fact and law, unless the question of law was specifically put before the arbitrator.
(b) If the arbitration agreement does not provide for an appeal, s. 44(2) allows an appeal on a question of law with permission of the Court of Queen’s Bench, unless the question of law was specifically put before the arbitrator.
(c) Section 45 enables the Court of Queen’s Bench to set aside an award for certain listed reasons that undermine the validity of the award, including that the applicant was “treated manifestly unfairly and unequally”, or if there is a “reasonable apprehension of bias”. Permission to apply is not required.
(d) Section 48 allows an appeal to the Court of Appeal from determinations of the Court of Queen’s Bench under s. 44 and 45 with permission from the Court of Appeal.
[7] Arbitrations are intended to be an efficient method of resolving disputes without resort to the courts. Appeals to the Court of Appeal should only be allowed where important questions of law are raised, and the applicant has shown good arguable grounds for the appeal: Kawchuk v Kovacs, 2016 ABCA 210 (CanLII), 79 RFL (7th) 276. The applicant has not shown any obvious error in the ruling that his application to set aside the award was not commenced in time. He has also not set out a reasonable argument explaining why he did not raise all of his challenges to the award in the first stage of the proceedings, and why he should be allowed to mount serial challenges to the award.
0] Family law litigation is, unfortunately, often tainted by exaggerated or extravagant allegations of misconduct. Judges and family law arbitrators are used to carefully considering such allegations to ensure that they are not given more weight than they deserve……
Contact our Calgary Family Arbitrators Mediators Lawyers team today to meet with us in downtown Calgary.
